Two Glasgow enforcers torched a Tayside couple’s new private-plated Mercedes after their son racked up a £100,000 drug debt.
Underworld goons Lloyd McKay and Calvin Gilmour drove 80 miles to vandalise the couple’s car after they had already been harangued by phone about their son’s debts.
The pair then fled via back roads but left a bottle containing petrol at the scene.
While making his way back to Glasgow, McKay was found to have Googled: “how to fix burnt hair”.
Two other men have already been jailed for targeting the same couple just weeks after the firebomb strike.
The couple’s identities and where they were targeted cannot be revealed for legal reasons.
Mercedes blaze
Prosecutor Sarah Wilkinson told Forfar Sheriff Court of the events of October 2022.
“At the time, (their son) had been leading a chaotic lifestyle,” she said.
“Leading up to it, (the husband) had been receiving phone calls saying he now owed a drug debt of £100,000 his son had racked up.”
The calls ended on October 5 but at 1am on October 27, 2022 the male complainer was in his house, watching TV when he heard a car alarm and saw a Mercedes parked in the driveway was ablaze.
The man phoned the emergency services and tried to extinguish the fire with a garden hose. He noticed a “significant” smell of petrol.
Home CCTV was reviewed, which showed the attack taking place after items had been thrown over the locked gates.
Petrol stop
At 1pm, the husband received another phone call in which he received a threat someone would return and inflict more damage.
The court heard the Mercedes, recently been purchased for £38,000, was written-off.
Insurers only paid £17,000.
A window had been smashed and a brick was recovered from a footwell of the car.
Inside, two plastic bottles were also recovered, one of which contained petrol.
CCTV showed the pair had driven from Glasgow, stopped at an Esso garage in Perth where they refuelled and bought four plastic bottles of water and then headed to the couple’s home.
Phone analysis showed McKay – who had been burned in the incident – had Googled “how to fix burnt hair” shortly after the firebombing.
Defence
McKay, 24 and 21-year-old Gilmour, both of Glasgow, pled guilty to wilful fireraising.
McKay’s solicitor advocate Lewis Kennedy said his client suffers from a back injury and has a “small” criminal record.
Philip McWilliams, representing first offender Gilmour, said: “This is obviously a very serious matter.
“He is in full time employment as an air conditioning engineer. Mr Gilmour has managed to save up £3,750 for compensation.”
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown deferred sentencing until May 1 for reports and continued bail.
She warned them: “You should both be aware that a custodial sentence is an option given the nature of this offence.”
Later extortion attempt
Two other men have been jailed for trying to extort the same couple weeks after the firebombing strike.
Robert Notman and Lewis Goldfarb were both handed prison sentences for terrorising the couple in December 2022.
Notman made two 160-mile round trips to slash tyres and smash windows to terrify the pair.
Goldfarb admitted slashing car tyres the same day.
Both admitted returning six days later, when Goldfarb brought a knife and slashed the tyres of a Transit van after demanding entry to a rental property owned by another relative.
He admitted smashing the family’s CCTV camera to hide evidence of their visit, while Notman admitted banging on the door, demanding entry and smashing a window.
Notman was sentenced to 14 months behind bars while Goldfarb received a sentence of two years.
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