A firebug tenant has admitted torching his own furniture at two Perth flats, causing more than £73,000 of damage.
Neighbours were forced to flee their smoke filled-homes when Bryan Soutar started fires on the ground floor of the city centre tenements.
By the time emergency services arrived on the scene, the 55-year-old was long gone.
Soutar pled guilty to starting fires in his assisted living flat on Market Street in May 2019 and at the St Johnstoun’s Buildings, Charles Street, in November the same year.
He was originally charged with endangering residents by wilful fireraising.
Midway through a trial at Perth Sheriff Court, he pled guilty to alternative charges of culpably and recklessly starting fires and causing extensive damage to both properties.
Sofa burning
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC deferred sentence for background reports and warned Soutar he could face jail.
She told him: “I am going to allow you to remain at liberty but don’t take that as any indication of what the ultimate sentence might be.”
Jurors heard Soutar, who uses a mobility scooter to get around, set fire to his sofa at his ground floor flat in Market Street on May 18.
Three fire crews raced to the four-storey block just before 7.30am.
The eight flats were operated by charity Blackwood Homes and Care, providing accommodation for people with disabilities and other needs.
Firefighters used breathing apparatus and hose reel jets to bring the blaze under control.
Set fire to mattress
Six months later, Soutar was living at the four-storey St Johnstoun’s Buildings.
Neighbours said they ran from their homes when they began filling with smoke on November 22.
One resident said they had heard Soutar moving around in his ground floor flat shortly before the alarms went off.
Retired firefighter Martin White told the trial he was among the first on the scene at the Charles Street incident.
He said he saw no flames but could see smoke coming from a ground floor property.
“Someone from the block met us and directed us to where the smoke was coming from,” he said.
No one was inside the bedsit-style flat but there was a badly charred mattress on the floor.
It appeared to have been removed from its steel bedframe, which was in the corner of the room.
The floor underneath the mattress had also caught fire, Mr White said.
“We had to cut out part of the floor to make sure the fire was extinguished completely.”
The court heard the fire had burnt itself out by the time crews arrived.
Mr White said there was no evidence an accelerant had been used.
The total cost of damage to the Market Street flat was £50,039, while the Charles Street repair bill was £22,722.
Soutar, whose address is listed as Greyfriars House homeless hostel, will be sentenced next month.
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