STEVEN Hooker, the Beacon Hill arsonist who was jailed for nine years following a three-year reign of terror in the village, has lodged an appeal against his convictions.

Now almost 21, Hooker was jailed last April after he was branded a Òserial arsonistÓ by a judge at the Old Bailey.

The arson attacks, which brought fear into the minds of the local community, began after Hooker was excluded from Woolmer Hill school, where he was a pupil, for possession of drugs. He torched school buildings three days later and went on to set four cars alight.

The incidents of arson, which began in December 1997, escalated in May 2001 with the most serious, when he set fire to JayCeeÕs convenience store while the occupants of the flat above, a woman and her six-year-old child, were asleep.

The terrified family escaped after running for their lives when the shopÕs alarm wires fused and activated the burglar alarm

Police believed that the fire was caused by a yachting-type flare which was thrown through the letter box. It ignited, endangering the lives of the mother and her young child and destroyed the entire shop causing £200,000 worth of damage.

It was the last fire by the infamous, self-styled Beacon Hill arsonist who waged war against the village he grew to hate.A week later a man called the emergency services and delivered his chilling message: ÒI am the Beacon Hill arsonist and IÕm going to kill tonight

ÒI am in a phone box in Beacon Hill and IÕm going to burn people out of the shops,Ó Hooker was said to have added.

An analysis of the callerÕs voice led police to Hooker and he was arrested.

The arson attacks stopped immediately. Four months later he was brought to court.

In his summing up the judge John Rogers QC told Hooker: ÒNot only was a store destroyed, it is fortunate occupants of apartments upstairs were able to get out without suffering any harm.Ó

Hooker, who lived in Beacon Hill Road, was convicted of five charges of arson Ð four charges of simple arson and one of being reckless as to whether life was endangered Ð and one of threatening to damage property.

The vengeful teenager was said in court to be obsessed with the SAS, and used Army surplus flares to attack Woolmer Hill School before venting his anger elsewhere.

Hooker had denied the charges and at his trial his barrister Andrew Turton claimed there was no direct eveidence to prove Hooker had set fires in his school, to four cars and to a convenience store

But in his closing speach prosecutor Jonathon Davies pointed to the Òremarkable coincidencesÓ in the case.

He said: ÒIf Hooker is not guilty he has been terrbily unlucky, the victim of misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the victim of a series of remarkable coincidences.Ó

The panel of jurors reached four of the verdicts by a majority decision while the other two were unanimous.

The appeal is set to be heard at the Court of Appeal in London on Thursday October 3.