David Blagdon waited 20 years before making his break for freedom from Leyhill Open Prison.

On Tuesday, prison officers allowed the 47-year-old to join a seven-strong working party carrying out environmental work in woods near Bristol.

Blagdon had been allowed outside the immediate prison area as part of his rehabilitation but his decision to flee will not be viewed favourably by the Parole Board, due to consider his release last year.

It was a similar decision by Blagdon to act on impulse 20 years ago that led to him receiving a life sentence and spending the past two decades behind bars.

No-one was hurt in the blaze and he has protested that his sentence is on a par with those handed out to convicted killers.

On July 7, 1978, Blagdon, then 27, rode a stolen bicycle up the A34 to South Hinksey, near Oxford, and committed the crime that was to change his life.

His stepmother had just died of cancer after confining herself to bed for 15 years to lament the cot death of a foster child.

His stepfather - a butler - had been transferred to a mental hospital where he suffered a fatal heart attack two weeks after his wife's death.

Blagdon, who spoke to the Oxford Mail in 1995 from Erlestoke Prison in Wiltshire, explained: "I went crazy. I didn't know how to cope. I went back to our house in Kingston Lisle, near Wantage, and found that the locks to the doors had all been changed by the council. There was no will and all my father's money went to the state. What was I meant to do?" When Blagdon arrived at St Laurence's Church, he had three previous convictions for arson - on a van, a warehouse and a shop door.

He also had a history of convictions for assault, theft, burglary and blackmail. When he arrived at the church, he picked up a rock and threw it at the door, then went inside to set fire to a pair of curtains.

The blaze caused £1,200 damage, but further devastation was prevented when two passers by noticed Blagdon acting suspiciously and called the emergency services.

He recalled: "I knew exactly what I was doing and I sat down and waiting until the fire brigade and police arrived."

At Oxford Crown Court he pleaded guilty to arson. After the court received two conflicting medical reports, Blagdon asked to go to prison, a request he now claims was a "simple cry for help". With some anxiety, The judge gave him a life sentence to keep him out of danger.

More than 16 years on, Blagdon told the Oxford Mail: "I'm fine now. I can cope with life. I think I should have been sent to hospital for six to 12 months to recover instead of being sent to prison for life."

He added: "It's crazy - I've seen murderers and rapists spend less time in prison than me."

On Tuesday, after serving 20 years in numerous jails, Blagdon may have decided he had done his time.

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