TWO teenagers who wrecked a cricket pavilion as part an arson spree around Bicester have been spared jail.

Thomas Hood and Joe Newman, both 19, were sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Monday having earlier admitted setting fire to two field shelters and Chesterton Cricket Club’s pavilion in June last year.

They also asked for three wheelie-bin blazes to be taken into consideration.

Chesterton CC is still without a permanent home and is likely to start the new season with temporary changing facilities.

Brian Payne, prosecuting, said the pair were caught after Newman’s Vauxhall Calibra, which had been spotted at some of the arsons, was stopped in Launton and fire footage was found on a mobile phone inside the car.

Mr Payne conceded Newman, of Goldsmith Close, and Hood, of Orchard Way, both in Bicester, had acted with a third man. A decision whether or not to prosecute him has yet to be taken.

Judge Julian Hall gave each defendant 12 months in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for 18 months, and ordered them to each carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work.

They were also told to pay a total of £1,200 compensation.