A TROUBLED teenager twice attempted to set fire to a living facility for vulnerable people.

At 1.50am on February 2, 2017 Lauren McDonagh drunkenly phoned the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service reporting a blaze in her Eldon Road flat.

When fire fighters arrived at the block of assisted living apartments they discovered numerous smouldering items strewn across her cooker.

They left the scene only to be called back at 4.38am to find the block evacuated following a second arson attempt.

Sentencing at Reading Crown Court on April 21, Judge John Dugdale said: "You started a fire in your sheltered accommodation unit. It is sheltered accommodation for a number of people who have serious difficulties.

"You just need to pause for a moment to think who else was in the building. You need to think of the risk that you took in relation to the lives of those other people."

When the 19 year-old was arrested she was serving a suspended sentence for a drink-fuelled assault in a Tesco Express on September 4, 2016.

Having been ejected from the Streatham shop at 7.45am after eating unpaid for baked goods and calling the manager a "p****k", McDonagh and her friend drank 60 per cent proof rum outside.

They returned to the shop at 11.20am and began throwing buckets and bottles around, with the friend pouring Lucozade on the floor.

McDonagh was arrested when she launched a can of dog food at a staff member, causing a four inch gash by his eye.

Judge Dugdale continued: "The man needed four stitches. You left him with a scar on his head for life."

The Court also heard from defence lawyer Givseppina Silvio, who said McDonagh's record of 21 previous convictions followed a troubled childhood.

"At the age of 19 this young girl was and is a lost soul," she said.

"She has no support other than the Slough Children's Trust. She is a very distressed and immature 19 year-old because she has never had guidance from her family apart from her grandparents who she has lost.

"From a very young age this young lady has been in care."

Lauren McDonagh, of 4 Eldon Road, Reading, was sentenced to 32 months in prison for one count of affray and one count of arson.