CONVICTED rapist Rachael Tuscani has been jailed for seven years for putting lives at risk by torching his Basing-stoke home.

The sentence for torching the Faroe Close home in Popley was imposed last Thursday and comes after the 39-year-old transexual was caged for five years for various sex offences including four counts of rape.

Passing sentence for the arson offence at Winchester Crown Court, Judge Patrick Hooton told Tuscani: "This was an extremely reckless and dangerous thing to do and deserves a substantial prison sentence."

Tuscani, formerly known as Bruce Middleditch, had been convicted last November of recklessly endangering life through arson and a second charge of attempting to obtain property by deception.

At the arson trial, the court heard residents had to be evacuated and two families rehoused after the blaze broke out at Tuscani's home.

Tuscani claimed someone had thrown a petrol bomb into his home.

But the court heard burn patterns were consistent with someone having scattered accelerant around the lounge, hallway and out the front door.

After convicting him of the arson and deception offences, the jurors were told Tuscani had been found guilty earlier in the year of four charges of rape, two of actual bodily harm and another serious sexual offence, for which he had received the five-year sentence.

The seven years for the arson offence and the 12-month sentence for the attempted deception will run concurrently with the five years Tuscani is already serving.