THIS was the devastation left after a homeless burglar set fire to an Oxford pensioner’s house.

William Dinham, who is deaf, was asleep when the blaze took hold in a downstairs bedroom at his home in Abbey Road, West Oxford.

The 77-year-old managed to raise the alarm with a neighbour at 2am but still needed lengthy hospital treatment for burns and smoke inhalation.

Now Ireneusz Strzelczyk has admitted arson being reckless as to whether life is endangered. He earlier admitted burglary.

The 26-year-old told Oxford Crown Court that the fire was started by falling tobacco from a roll-up cigarette, but this was not accepted by the prosecution.

Mr Dinham suffered significant burns, particularly to his head and shoulders, and has been in and out of hospital ever since.

At the time of the incident, next-door neighbour Miguel Rosado told the Oxford Mail: “I was sleeping, it was about 2am and there was a knock on the door and Mr Dinham, half naked, was saying ‘fire! fire!’ “I called the fire service. I was half asleep, but I took him inside and he was sitting on my sofa.

“I saw his burnt hair falling on my sofa and on the floor.

“He wanted to go back to the house and I said ‘no, you stay there’. He was probably absolutely lost and at the same time he was terrified.”

Fire investigator Darryl Manners told the court on Tuesday he “found no evidence that the fire occurred as a result of smouldering origins”.

He said: “I was of the opinion the fire started as a result of the application of a naked flame to combustible materials at the foot of the bed.”

Strzelczyk, who admitted smoking cannabis and drinking 10 beers that day, said he was used to living in squats and broke into the house by smashing a window.

His blood was found at the scene but he denied the prosecution’s claim he set fire to materials in the house to destroy such evidence.

Deciding which explanation was more plausible, Judge Anthony King said: “Sometimes evidence given by the defence is more damning against the defence than any other evidence, and this evidence is just such a case.”

Strzelcyzk, who had travelled to Oxford from Slough to visit a friend on the day of the fire, initially pleaded not guilty and said he had not smoked at the scene.

He changed his plea on Monday, the day his trial was due to start.

Judge King said: “This had all the hallmarks of someone seeking desperately to avoid the consequences of his actions until he knew there was no alternative.

“It was perfectly clear to me that from beginning to end he was making little or no attempt to be frank or truthful with the court.”

Speaking after the case, Det Con Claire Routledge said: “Mr Dinham sustained significant burns, particularly to his head and shoulders, and since the incident has been in and out of hospital, so sadly it has had a significant impact on his life.”

Strzelczyk was remanded in custody for pre-sentence and psychiatric reports to be compiled and will be sentenced on June 15.