A Perthshire man who mistakenly set fire to his elderly mother-in-law’s home fled the scene after attempting to cover his tracks.
Heavily under the influence of alcohol, George Brown smashed a window in a bid to make it look as if the blaze had been started by someone else.
He then abandoned 81-year-old Ruby Batchelor, who suffered from dementia, to a house that was rapidly filling with smoke.
Perth Sheriff Court was told he was afraid his family would find out he had been smoking in the house and so left the pensioner to battle the blaze on her own.
Brown was a regular visitor to Mrs Batchelor’s house at Hillock Head, Clunie, as he acted as her carer alongside his wife Lesley.
On August 10 last year, however, as Mrs Batchelor slept, he overindulged in alcohol and dropped a cigarette on an armchair.
It started to smoulder and, although the 51-year-old claimed to have made efforts to extinguish the fire, he left before completing the task.
Mrs Batchelor who has died since the incident was eventually awakened by her smoke alarm only to discover the armchair and a pile of newspapers alight in her living-room.
She flung basins of water at the fire in a forlorn attempt to put it out before dialling 999 and being told to evacuate the house immediately.
Brown eventually stumbled to a neighbours’ home to tell them Mrs Batchelor’s house was on fire.
He was so drunk that they could barely understand what he was saying but the neighbour nonetheless made her way to the pensioner’s home to make sure everything was in order. They found Mrs Batchelor outside as firefighters arrived.
She had suffered minor smoke inhalation but was otherwise unhurt and did not need medical attention.
Brown repeatedly said it was nothing to do with him as “smoking was not allowed in the house” but suspicions were raised and the following day, police attended at Brown’s home in Blairgowrie.
He initially told them that he may have dropped a cigarette and that when he got up he had “staggered” and put his elbow through the window.
He was taken to divisional police headquarters, where his story changed more than once.
Brown denied the offence and had been due to face a jury trial this week before offering a plea to an amended charge.
Brown, Concraigie Cottage, Blairgowrie, admitted that, on August 10 at Hillock Head, Clunie, he culpably and recklessly set fire to an armchair, which spread to a quantity of newspapers, causing damage to the property and smoke-logging, all to the danger of Mrs Batchelor, now deceased.
Solicitor Cliff Culley stressed that there was no connection between Mrs Batchelor’s passing and the incident.
Sentence was deferred until June 12 for reports, which Sheriff Michael Fletcher said should explore alternatives to custody.
“This is a serious matter because at least one life was put at risk,” he added.