An arsonist whose “wicked crime” led to desperate residents being forced from their homes has been jailed for eight and a half years.
Fire-raiser Brian Martin torched the block of flats in Garland Place, Dundee, sparking a massive late-night rescue operation in which a firefighter was injured.
Lord Boyd of Duncansby said emergency services workers and householders were put at “real risk” after Martin, 30, set the fire on April 25, 2012.
Firefighter James Ingram was hurt after plunging eight feet when a staircase collapsed in the burning building and had to be rescued by fellow crew members.
Lord Boyd said: “This was a wicked crime. You put the residents of this building in real and substantial danger for their lives.”Photo gallery: The Garland Place fireHomeless Martin, described as a prisoner in Perth, was found guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court of wilfully starting the fire and was remitted to the High Court for sentence.
The residents at the building were all rescued and the fire was eventually brought under control, but the property was extensively damaged and a dog was killed.
One resident, Alan Smith, had heard a noise from the stairwell and when he went to investigate burnt his hand on the door handle and saw his letterbox was melting.
He covered his head with wet towels and dialled 999 before being rescued as his escape by the stairs was completely cut off.
Eight of the block’s nine residents were at their windows, begging for rescue, when the fire services arrived.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Courier.