Jailed for fire incident

Accused was "smirking" as firemen tackled blaze in flat

A WICK man, who walked away from a fire in his council flat to go drinking, was jailed for 22 months at the town's sheriff court today.

However, David Webb returned to the scene and was observed "smirking" while firemen tackled the blaze, on November 24, last year.

The 47-year-old old admitted on indictment, having culpably and recklessly allowing a fire in the ground-floor bedroom of his home to take hold, whereby it caused extensive damage.

The court was told that neighbours raised the alarm after getting the smell of burning plastic and observing smoke coming from the flat at 35 Huddart Street, Wick, and the building was evacuated.

Sheriff Andrew Berry told Webb, who has an extensive record and remembered nothing of the incident, that he didn't appear to appreciate the potentially serious consequences his actions could have had.

Webb's sentence was backdated to November 24 when he was taken into custody and he will be under supervision for 11 months after he is released.