Fireraiser jailed

Accused sentenced to 18 months for home fire which was a potential danger to other residents

A MAN, who set fire to his own home while under the influence of a cocktail of drugs, was jailed for eighteen months at Wick Sheriff Court today.
Douglas Wilkie, 30, climbed onto the roof of his flat after the blaze took hold and hallucinated about non-existent people who were "out to get him".
Firefighters and police converged on Wilkie's flat in Bayview Terrace, Thurso, on November 4 last year. They observed him "displaying a strange demeanour".
Fiscal David Barclay said that the accused appeared to be "under the influence of something" and showed "a clear sense of fear and paranoia".
Firefighters had to stage a forced entry as the door to the flat had been barricaded to "keep Wilkie's perceived assailants out". The fire caused extensive damage before being brought under control.
Wilkie was unable to say how the fire had started but there was evidence that he and others had been drinking and taking drugs in the days preceding the outbreak and the accused had been lighting papers and pieces of furniture to stoke the living room fire. Wilkie admitted culpable and reckless fireraising, on indictment.
The accused had previously refused to co-operate with social workers who wished to compile a background report - despite a warning from Sheriff Andrew Berry that it could adversely affect the prison sentence imposed. However, the court was today told that he had changed his mind and a report was available.
Sheriff Berry said that Wilkie had potentially endangered people living a quiet life, by his actions in which he had "taken drugs of all sorts, some of which he had not understood anything about, and had become somewhat dellusionary".
The sheriff added, however, that Wilkie appeared to be getting a positive insight into how to avoid trouble, since his last sentence but faced the prospect of endless prison terms if he did not stay out of trouble.
Wilkie whose sentence was backdated to November 4 when he was apprehended, will be under supervision for nine months after his release to give the public some protection.