A woman was jailed for setting fire to a block of flats in Hendon after suspicions rose when she moved her items out of the flat before the incident.

Mina Daud, 23, of Warner Close, Colindale, admitted to arson and recklessly endangering life and was jailed for 22 months at Harrow Crown Court on January 4.

Metropolitan Police were called by the London Fire Brigade to flats in Warner Close, Hendon, at around 7.10pm on September 10, 2017.

LFB reported the fire as suspicious due to finding evidence suggesting matches were lit and dropped, with no accelerant identified.

Daud was arrested and police found clear inconsistencies in her account, and following a search of her home very few belongings were found, suggesting she had previously moved them out.

She was charged the following day.

DC Hussain Ahmed, of Barnet CID, said: "This fire was deliberately started in several locations in the defendant's flat within a large four storey block where a number of residents were at home, including children.

"At court it became clear this offence was motivated by Daud's wish to be re-housed. The fire caused many of the residents to require medical treatment and temporary forced out of their homes.

"However, it could have resulted in a much more catastrophic outcome. Thankfully this was not the case."

The fire caused £66,000 of damage to neighbouring flats as well as her own, and the communal corridor.

Four households were re-housed temporarily and many residents were treated in hospital and at the scene for smoke inhalation and related conditions.