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Elgin Poundland fire - Teenager found guilty of starting explosive fire by lighting sanitary products





A 17-year-old college student started a devastating fire which destroyed the Poundland store in Elgin and caused around £1 million worth of damage.

The teenager - who cannot be named for legal reasons - had been on trial since Tuesday at Inverness Sheriff Court and was unanimously found guilty by a jury who took less than an hour to reach their verdict.

A special defence of incrimination had been lodged.

The trial heard that on August 12, 2022, he set fire to female products in an aisle of the store, which then spread to other goods including aerosol canisters.

The entire contents of the building were destroyed in the fire and nearby buildings were also damaged.

CCTV footage of the incident showed a man holding a lighter against the products in the High Street store, before walking away with friends.

Three members of staff were cashing up at the time of the fire and helped the last remaining customer, who was in a wheelchair, to safety.

Fiscal depute Susan Love told the jury that the teenager “set fire to a sanitary product in Poundland which started a massive blaze”.

She continued: "The CCTV doesn’t lie”, and asked the jury to reject suggestions put by defence counsel Bill Adam that a second fire had been started and that it could have been by one of two girls.

Ms Love said there was no evidence of this before the jury and that one of the girls was not even in the store at the time and the second girl was simply sweeping her hair from her face.

Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald deferred sentence until March 10 for a background report to be prepared as required by law for convicted people under the age of 25.

She allowed the first offender's bail to be continued in the meantime.


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