"Mr Horner was your neighbour and had been your friend but you had fallen out and you acted to get your own back against a perceived grievance that he was the cause of the loss of your heating.

"You did what you did deliberately. You went to considerable lengths and you knew what you were doing. Of crucial importance is that you had no intention of doing any physical harm.

"Your plan was simply to stop his boiler from working and make him cold. I accept your remorse is genuine and your culpability is at the lower end."

Mr Paul Dunkels QC, prosecuting, said there was a background of ill feeling with accusations of theft and a previous confrontation at a bus stop.

Mr Horner suffered from Huntingdon's Disease and had heart problems, both of which restricted his mobility.

He returned home after visiting friends for Christmas dinner in 2015 to find his flat was cold because the gas was turned off at the outside meter.

He turned it on again but when he woke up on Boxing Day it had been turned off again and he was trapped inside because all his locks had been superglued and filled with foam.