A MURDER case witness carried out three arson attacks because he was under pressure.

A court heard Thomas Buzec had been driven out of his home after he gave evidence in a murder case.

He was living rough on the streets when he set two cars and two wheelie bins on fire.

The cars and bins were destroyed and no one was injured, although one man burned his trousers as he tried to put out one bin with a fire extinguisher Buzec, 34, admitted one reckless arson and two arson charges when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court. He was jailed for a total of 30 months.

The court heard the two cars were in a car park behind the New Look shop, in Pier Avenue, Clacton, on August 16.

They were completely burned out by the fires.

The wheelie bins were not far away and the court heard CCTV picked up Buzec dragging piles of rubbish to an alleyway.

He returned for more rubbish and went down the alleyway again before the glimmer of a fire was seen.

A duty manager at McDonald’s, in Pier Avenue, smelled smoke and went to investigate.

He used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire in the restaurant’s bin.

Buzec was arrested later after police identified him from the CCTV coverage of the area His barrister, Marc Brown, told the court Buzec had been forced to flee from his Jaywick home after he witnessed the death of John Smith, in Jaywick, in July 2009.

Mr Brown said: “He was living on the streets of Clacton and began to dabble in drugs.

“On the day of these matters he was attacked and it was against this background that these offences took place.

“There’s no real reason and he cannot explain why he started the fires, but he was under quite a degree of pressure at the time.”