A Perthshire hotel manager is facing jail after starting a fire in a cycle storage area at his own workplace.
Nearly 50 people – eight members of staff and 40 guests including three children — had to be evacuated in the middle of the night as the blaze took hold at the Killin Hotel, by Loch Tay.
Vimal Verma, 42, was seen “acting weirdly” after being asked to leave a birthday gathering held after work in the staff accommodation.
Verma had only recently been hired on a trial basis as live-in assistant operations manager at the hotel.
Firebug calmly watched fire he set
Prosecutor James Moncrieff told Falkirk Sheriff Court the member of staff whose birthday it was had cleaned and closed the bar at 11.30 pm on April 21st last year and had invited fellow staff members, including Verma, to her room for drinks.
Mr Moncrieff said as the party continued, Verma’s behaviour “began to make the others feel uncomfortable”.
He said: “It was clear he was quite drunk and he was asked to leave.”
At 2.56am Verma was recorded on CCTV leaving his room, entering the front vestibule of the hotel and walking straight to the cycle storage area in the vestibule, where bikes and equipment were located.
Mr Moncrieff said: “Shortly afterwards a bright flickering light appeared while he was still in the bike storage area.
“An item was seen being placed on top of the bicycles and a shadow could be seen moving around as the light intensified.”
Soon afterwards, Verma was recorded on CCTV “calmly” watching the bike storage area “well ablaze”.
Meanwhile, the staff member who had been giving the party checked hotel CCTV on an app and saw smoke coming from the reception area.
Other members of staff rushed to the scene and found Verma “looking at the fire while swinging his arms back and forth”.
Mr Moncrieff said: “The accused appeared startled by the arrival of the other members of staff.
“They asked him what he was doing and he replied, ‘nothing’.”
Evacuation
The hotel alarms activated and the fire cut the electrical supply.
Guests were evacuated, the emergency services were called and staff began to fight the blaze with fire extinguishers.
Verma was described as “still acting weird and asking the guests what had happened”.
Police arrived and he was arrested.
Firefighters said wicker chairs stacked against the wall of the storage area had been deliberately set alight.
Mr Moncrieff said: “The total value of the property destroyed was £2600 but the fire had the potential to endanger the lives of the hotel occupants if it had spread unchecked.”
Verma, now of Sheffield, pled guilty to wilful fireraising.
Solicitor Ken Dalling, defending, said his client was “in no doubt as to the seriousness of his conduct”.
Sheriff Craig Harris deferred sentencing until October 17 for reports.
He warned: “This is a very serious offence indeed.
“The court will decide on the next occasion what sentence to pass and that includes, of course, the option of a custodial sentence.”
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