A Sudbury man accused of deliberately starting two fires at flats in the town has been convicted by a jury.

Before Ipswich Crown Court on Friday was Aaron Hubbard, 43, of Minden Road in the town.

He had denied two offences of arson with intent to endanger life and two alternative offences of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

A jury cleared him of the two more serious charges of arson with intent to endanger life but found him guilty of the two offences of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

Jude Emma Peters adjourned sentence until September 12.

The  court heard that the first fire was in a stairwell near the main front door of seven flats located in Queensbury House above the Weavers Tap pub in East Street, Sudbury, in March 2021.

By the time firemen arrived the fire had burnt itself out but they found the stairwell full of smoke, said Simon Gladwell, prosecuting.

The second fire was in July last year in a ground floor flat in a two storey block in Minden Road, Sudbury.

The front door of the flat, which was unoccupied at the time, was damaged and there was also smoke damage.

Fire investigators found that both blazes had been started deliberately, said Mr Gladwell.

Hubbard was arrested by police after he was seen near the location of both fires, before and after they were started.

He had spoken to a policeman outside the Queensbury House fire and told the officer that the building had a timber roof and he was "surprised it hadn't burnt down".

The court heard that after his arrest for the first fire he said "it's about the flats" without the police mentioning anything about the location of the blaze.

He then claimed to have given a homeless man he'd seen sitting outside the flats a disposable lighter and said he had later seen him making a hand-rolled cigarette.