A midwife who set her vermin-infested council flat on fire, after being driven to the edge of madness by her phobia of mice and rats, will not have her "lenient" jail term increased.

Mina Daud, 23, could have caused "another Grenfell" when she set five different seats on fire at her home in a four-storey block of flats in Warner Close, Colindale, the Criminal Appeal Court was told.

Tortured Daud, a mother of one, who was phobic about rodents and also had PTSD, had "begged" to be re-housed because her flat "suffered from a infestation of rats and mice."

But she put the lives of her neighbours at risk when she moved her belongings out of her property on September 10, 2017 and set it ablaze.

The home was infested with rats and mice (Photo - AFP/Getty Images)

She was jailed for 22 months at Harrow Crown Court in January, after pleading guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life is endangered.

But that sentence was viewed as "unduly lenient" by the Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC, who referred it for top judges to look at again.

Now, however, Lord Justice Davis and two other judges refused to up her term - despite agreeing that she had got off very lightly.

The court heard that the fire cost the local authority £66,000 in repairs and rehousing costs.

Four families needed to be rehomed and seven people were taken to hospital, although none were seriously hurt.

Daud herself had alerted neighbours to the blaze and firefighters were quickly on the scene.

"This could have been a tragedy," the Attorney General's barrister told the court.

Agreeing Lord Justice Davis said: "In these days, post-Grenfell Tower, arson in a block of flats is very, very worrying."

But he refused to increase her jail term, given her deep remorse, psychological issues, and the fact that she is the mother of a four-year-old.

The aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire

"This offender is truly remorseful about what she did, and so she should be," he said.

"We are in no doubt at all that this was a very lenient sentence.

"The judge was taking a very merciful course but, in the circumstances of this case, there was undoubtedly room to take a very merciful course and assess this as an exceptional case."

"Although we conclude that this sentence was lenient, it was not unduly lenient such that we should interfere now by increasing it," he concluded.