A schizophrenic who poured petrol over his neighbour and tried to set him alight has been detained in a mental health hospital indefinitely.

Afis Kadir, 27, of Glenam Road, Clapton, arrived at his neighbour Sulaiman Adebakin’s house shouting and threatening to kill him in the middle of the day on July 9 last year.

He then returned moments later, brandishing a can of petrol and emptied it over Mr Adebakin in a completely unprovoked attack, before trying to ignite it with his lighter but failing to get a flame, the Old Bailey was told.

Kadir had already beaten Cemal Krotus severely around the head, leaving him with severe bruising in another unprovoked attack at a benefits office in Ramsgate Street, Dalston.

He then returned home and attacked Mr Adebakin, before fleeing the scene and being arrested by police.

He pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful wounding and was convicted of attempted murder after a two-day trial.

Sentencing him last Thursday, Judge Neil Sanders said: “You have pleaded guilty to assaulting a complete stranger in a benefits office. This was a completely unprovoked attack and you intented to cause him really serious physical injury.

“Shortly thereafter you returned home and you went upstairs to your neighbour’s flat and threatened to kill him.

“You then went away, you came back with a can of petrol and poured it all over this completely blameless man.

“Mercifully you failed to get a flame from your lighter, and if you had, the effects would have been catastrophic. These offences were both extremely grave.”

The court heard medical reports diagnosing Kadir as a paranoid schizophrenic, and recommended his indefinite detention in the John Howard Mental Health Unit in Homerton.

He will not be considered for release unless a court rules he is no longer a danger to the public.