A rapist and a teenager have been locked up for bringing misery to a group of allotment-holders.

A court heard how one shed on a site in Colchester was burned down and others were broken into and items stolen.

Convicted rapist Danny Maltman and a teenager admitted charges of burglary and attempted burglary at the allotments near East Street in Colchester when they appeared in court.

The teenager also admitted an arson charge. He cannot be named because of his age.

Maltman, formerly of Timber Hill, Colchester, was jailed for a total of four months. The sentence is consecutive to a six-year sentence he is serving for rape.

The teenager was given a ten-month detention and training order.

Judge Peter Fenn told the pair: "Allotments are something which give a great deal of pleasure to those who have them and people give a great deal of their time and effort in tending them.

"Your actions must have caused a great deal of distress to these people."

Chelmsford Crown Court heard police were called after a man on his way to work heard noises and then saw a fireball coming from the allotments around 5am on June 7, last year.

One shed and its contents were destroyed by fire, causing damage estimated at £700, and another six sheds on the site were either broken into or attempts had been made to break into them, the court heard.

Shereen Dyer, mitigating for the teenager, told the court he had drink and drug problems at the time but was now taking steps to change his life.

Maltman's barrister, Samantha Leigh, told the court he had been jailed for six years earlier this year and was not due for release until 2010 when he has served about half of his sentence.