A Beaconsfield cartoonist started a fire at a hotel as he sought revenge on an escort after romance failed to sparkle, a court heard.

John Graeme Davide, of Kinellan Court, donned 3D cinema glasses and a pork pie hat for the arson attack.

He acted out of a “burning feeling of injustice that he had been exploited”, London's Appeal Court heard.

The 48-year-old was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Harrow Crown Court on July 19.

Two weeks before the attack - on February 18 2016 - Davide met with an escort and paid £500 for overnight services.

He wanted to leave early, and demanded a partial refund, but was left fearing for his safety after he became aware of another man in the bathroom.

Feeling “exploited by the escort and her pimp” Davide “hatched a plan” to get revenge, tracked her down and made another appointment as a new customer using an unregistered phone.

Davide then arranged to meet her at the Holiday Inn, in Watford, donned his disguise and went to the hotel.

He filled an Evian bottle with petrol before placing it outside the room where he thought the escort and her pimp were and set light to it.

The fire alarm went off and a hotel guest was able to put the fire out with an extinguisher.

No damage was caused. A fire investigation found the “petrol bomb, if simply lit and not thrown, is no more than a giant candle”.

Davide was seen on CCTV footage, which featured on Crimewatch in September last year.

He was arrested and admitted to police what he had done. He told them he had been “motivated by a desire to frighten the escort and teach her a lesson”.

The judge who jailed him accepted he was remorseful and had long-standing emotional issues.

A psychiatric report described how he was suffering from a marked adjustment disorder at the time of the attack as a “direct result of his experience with the escort”.

Sarah Forshaw QC, for Davide, argued that his jail term was too tough and should have been suspended.

She pointed to his previous character and references which described him as “selfless and kind-hearted”, but Mr Justice Goss ruled that the attack was planned.

"Although in the event no damage was caused and the fire was extinguished, Davide did not in reality know what was going to happen.”

The appeal was dismissed.