Firework thug left grandfather badly burned

Published on Friday 20 October 2006 11:43

A YOUTH left a grandfather with horrific burns after he shoved a lighted firework through his letterbox.

Kris McBain, 20, tossed the rocket through 62-year-old Charles Whyte's front door in Bo'ness, West Lothian, just after 2am on November 6th last year.

As Mr Whyte, who suffers from angina, frantically tried to it extinguish the firework it exploded, causing severe burns to his leg, groin and stomach.

At Falkirk Sheriff Court, McBain, of 41 Newtown, Bo'ness, pleaded guilty to reckless conduct, causing Mr Whyte severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

He was sentenced to 200 hours community service and placed on probation for two years, with the additional condition of a weekend curfew.

Mr Whyte said he was outraged by the sheriff's decision not to jail McBain, describing the sentence as a "slap on the wrist".

He added: "If I hadn't woken in time, the first we would have known something was wrong would have been the bang. By then it could have been too late."