Mechanic who had car set on fire after botched job is jailed

AN APPRENTICE car mechanic who tried to cover up a botched job by paying a friend to set the car on fire was jailed for 12 months yesterday.

Duncan McLean, 22, paid 100 to have the Peugeot 405 he was working on burned out, but the fire that accomplice James McKinnon set accelerated so quickly that it led to a 156,000 garage blaze.

Mr McKinnon, 23, was also jailed for 12 months yesterday for his role in the wilful fire-raising that a sheriff described as being "naive in the extreme".

McLean had been tasked with replacing the timing belt on a customer's Peugeot, but made a blunder and damaged the valves. Too afraid of admitting his mistake to his boss at Muir Garage in Edzell, Angus, the apprentice decided to find an accomplice to do "an insurance job" on the car.

He contacted Perth College student McKinnon, who agreed to carry out the job for 100.

Depute fiscal Hannah Kennedy told Forfar Sheriff Court the pair held meetings in various Brechin car parks.

McLean had told McKinnon he would arrange for the garage doors to be left unlocked, he would leave petrol to hand, and also a hammer so that, after gaining entry, McKinnon could smash a window to make the crime appear to be a break-in.

After receiving payment, McKinnon entered the garage on the night of 21 July, 2008, poured the petrol into the car, before lighting paper and setting the car alight.

The fiscal said: "The fire took hold violently, and McKinnon was burned quite severely on the face and right arm, but, despite his injuries, he made his escape."

A passing motorist saw the fire and called the emergency services, who discovered hazardous oxyacetylene tanks inside.

The police and fire service established that the fire had been started deliberately and an inquiry began. McKinnon was quickly identified as a suspect, and when he was brought in for questioning, officers noticed that his "face was burned and covered in white cream".

The fiscal said McKinnon told police: "Duncan McLean paid me 100 to set light to the car in the garage."

At Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday, McLean, of Newbigging Cottages, Lethnot, was jailed for 12 months after admitting he acted with McKinnon and wilfully set fire to a motor vehicle.

McKinnon, of Crieff Road, Perth, was also jailed for a year for wilfully setting fire to a motor vehicle and garage equipment and damaging the garage premises.