TWISTED Richard Fielding was this week locked up in a secure mental unit for an indefinite period after admitting he lit the blaze which killed seven people ? including three children from the Ray Lodge estate in Woodford Green.

The Old Bailey heard how Fielding had become gripped by paranoid fantasies and delusions which centred on an obsession that pal Lee Day was to blame for all his failings in life.

The unemployed 21-year-old, from Chingford Road in Walthamstow, was convinced he was destined to become a world famous DJ and a model. The only obstacle to success in his warped mind was Lee Day.

But, despite the two-day trial, no real motive has emerged for the pointless fire attack which killed seven at the three-storey house in Bellamy Road, Chingford on March 6, 1999.

At the Old Bailey, on Monday and Tuesday, the full horror came flooding back as a hushed court heard the bewildering details of the attack.

Fielding, who admitted seven charges of manslaughter on the grounds that he was mentally ill, spoke only to confirm the charges.

The fire killed Kathleen Day, 75, Sandra Day, 50, Lee Day, 22, twins Maddison and Rhiannon Himpfen Day, 3, Reece Himpfen, 2 and Yvonne Culverhouse, 17.

Psychologists were unanimous that Fielding had become a paranoid schizophrenic ruled by a fevered imagination.

Prosecutor Orlando Pownall told the court how Fielding was suffering an 'abnormality of the mind' which made him unable to take responsibility for his actions, made him manipulative and uncaring about human suffering.

The court heard how on March 6, following a raging row with his mother over beer money, Fielding cycled to the Q8 petrol station in Chingford Mount Road and bought five litres of petrol in a red plastic canister.

When a customer asked him if he had broken down he replied 'No I'm going to do a house' and rode off to Bellamy Road with the can on his crossbar at around 12.20am.

The court heard how he put the spout through the letterbox and emptied the fuel into the house before lighting it.

Mr Pownall told how neighbours spotted the blaze and rushed to the scene, raising ladders to the windows as they tried to break down the door. They spotted Lee Day at the first-floor window shouting for help.

Shortly after, the windows began exploding sending the rescuers back, but the group still managed to put a ladder up to Brian Day's room and haul him to safety.

Mr Pownall said that by the time Kelly Himpfen had arrived, at around 1am, there were no flames just black smoke. He revealed that when fireman finally entered the scene they found Lee and Sandra wrapped around the three children they were trying to protect.

Police found a discarded petrol can in a nearby garden with Fielding's fingerprints on.

Chillingly, the court heard how Fielding's mother said he was 'like a small child elated and buzzing with glazed eyes' when she saw him at about 9am the following morning.

When he was being charged by police he joked: 'You'll not prove murder. I will get off with criminal damage or arson.'

He later added: 'If they offer me manslaughter I will take it.'

In another interview he said: 'It's like a game of knock down ginger with a bit more ginger.'

He told police the petrol spout 'had come alive in his hand like a snake' and that he did not realise its strength.

Fielding complained that his imprisonment meant he would miss his holiday to Kenya, which, he said, he would have returned as a 'walking sex machine' and DJ.

The court heard how he felt it was Lee's fault that he was not a famous DJ after the pair carried out a burglary and Fielding cut his hand ? even though the injury would not have stopped him.

He also said Lee had given him cocaine which had burnt through his nose and ruined his male-model looks. He had even taken to scouring it with an emery board.

Defending, Kuldip Singh said Fielding was so mentally ill that he could not be held responsible for his actions while one psychiatrist said he was unlikely to be sane ever again.

The court heard how Fielding still felt that killing Lee Day was right although it was unfortunate about the others.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Hyam said: 'If the crime had been committed by anyone with a normal mind it would have been sheer wickedness.'

But he agreed that Fielding should be kept at Rampton secure hospital because he was mentally ill.

As he was led out of the court his legs seem to buckle as mum Kelly Himpfen yelled 'You evil b*******.'

Outside she told the Guardian: 'Maybe we should have got him in the court. It all feels unfinished, he was not even given a time sentence.

'That is no justice and he has got away with murder.'