A MAN whose life was turned into a "living nightmare" when he was set on fire says he cannot believe how lenient the law has been on his attackers.

Darren Matthews, aged 31, of Longford, was doused in white spirit and set alight in October last year, when he was caught trespassing at the Lewis Brothers ice cream factory in Bewsey.

Mr Matthews suffered 60 per cent third degree burns, was unconscious for three months and has since undergone more than 20 operations.

He cannot bend his arms and the burns have caused his hands to become claw shaped. He is currently awaiting an operation to amputate the little finger on his right hand.

On Thursday last week, Chester Crown Court heard that Alessandro Manfredi, whose family run the factory, and Ian Barlow, an employee, held Matthews against his will in a car inspection pit.

Manfredi, aged 28, of Bewsey Road, taunted and threatened him for trying to steal from his firm and then flicked the cigarette that he had been smoking at Mr Matthews.

Flames engulfed the inspection pit and Mr Matthews was made to run through them to escape. He ran out of the factory and was picked up by a passing ambulance on Folly Lane.

Manfredi was sentenced to five years in prison for committing arson, endangering life and false imprisonment, while Barlow, aged 37, of King George Crescent, got two years for the latter charge.

The pair were initially charged with attempted murder but this was changed when they both admitted to their actions and CCTV footage showed them trying to put out the flames burning Mr Matthews.

But Mr Matthews told the Warrington Guardian that he could not believe how lenient the judge was on the two men who had handed him down his own life sentence.

He said: "It's absolutely destroyed my life. Every day is a living nightmare. I can only take each day as it comes now: that's the life I've got to live."

Mr Matthews added that his injuries had also affected his relationship with his two young children, aged three and four.

"I used to be able to pick them up and play with them all the time and they don't understand why I can't do that anymore," he said.

Judge Elgan Edwards said the case was a tragedy and that Mr Matthews did not deserve to have his life ruined on that dreadful night.

After the trial, Detective Inspector Ron Pearson, said that individuals could not take the law into their own hands.

He said that Manfredi was stopped by police on his way to the incident and failed to report that his business was being broken into.

Mr Matthews is now trying to appeal against the leniency of the sentence.

John Matthews, Darren's father, said: "We can't let them get away with it. He Manfredi will get out of jail the same age that Darren is now. He's the MD of a company but Darren is left with a real life sentence."

He added that this had been the worst time in his life. He and his wife, Anka, are now planning to move back to Warrington, from Ireland, so they can look after their son.