A WOMAN who started a house fire which claimed the lives of her former lover and a baby girl was given an indeterminate sentence today.

Fuelled by drink Marie Sharp ignited a rag and stuffed it through the letterbox of a house in Seacroft, Leeds, last December.

The blaze killed 15-month-old Kyra Moran and Sharps former lover Gavin Battensby, 27, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Relatives of the victims shouted abuse at 23-year-old Sharp as she was led to the cells.

She had earlier been told she must serve a minimum of five-and-a-half years in jail before she can be considered for parole.

Tragic ... Kyra Moran

Ross Parry

The court was told Sharp had a seven year on-off relationship with Mr Battensby but she became jealous when he began a relationship with Kyras mother Sherree Palmer, 19.

She was "infatuated and obsessed" by Mr Battensby but had been left emotionally damaged by their relationship, the court was told.

On December 12 last year Sharp spent the night drinking wine and vodka with friends.

The court was told she became aggressive as the night progressed and witnesses overheard her making violent threats about her former lover and his new partner claiming they had it coming.

She returned to Mr Battensbys home in the early hours of December 13 and on "the spur of the moment" lit a discarded rag with her cigarette lighter and stuffed it through the letterbox.

Miss Palmer escaped the blaze after she fell from a window but her baby daughter and boyfriend were killed after they were engulfed by smoke and flames.

It emerged Mr Battensby tried to save the toddler and managed to reach her cot and place her on a bed before he was overcome by the smoke and flames.

Mr Justice Simon said he was imposing an indeterminate sentence for the publics protection as Sharp posed a "significant risk" of causing death or serious injury to other people.

He said: "The consequences of your malice has been the deaths of two people, one of them a baby, and shattering the lives of those families."

In mitigation her barrister, Simon Bickler said his client was full of genuine "remorse, sorrow and condolence" for both families and would have to live with the consequences of her actions for the rest of her life.

He said the consequences of her actions were not intended and she had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He also stressed that an accelerant had not been used to start the fire.

Sharp, of Tarnside Drive, Leeds, had earlier admitted two counts of manslaughter.

Outside court, Mr Battensbys mother Dorothy Battensby said: "She will still have a life and family to go to. Gavin has no life or family to go to. Im pleased she is where she is