Tain man cleared of starting fires at hotel
A SHERIFF has cleared a Tain man of deliberately starting fires outside a Portmahomack hotel close to where he lived two years ago.
Sheriff David Sutherland ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict Alistair Duncan after defence solicitor Ken Ferguson made a no case to answer plea at the end of the prosecution evidence on the second day of the trial at Tain Sheriff Court.
Duncan (44) now of Seaforth Road, Tain had denied setting fire to wheelie bins, logs and kindling at the Castle Hotel in Portmahomack between July and August 2012.
He also denied setting a fire on the bonnet of hotel owner Elizabeth Morris’s BMW motor car which was parked outside the front of the hotel on August 3. Duncan had lodged a special defence of alibi.
His solicitor Mr Ferguson made a plea on Tuesday that there was no case to answer and there was no evidence that Duncan had set fire to the bin on any occasion or that he had set fire to the car.
After a brief adjournment, the sheriff said it was a question of legal sufficiency and he did not think there was sufficient evidence in law to convict on either charge and found Duncan not guilty
Mrs Morris, who has run the hotel for six years, gave evidence during the first day of the trial. She said she believed the lives of her family and guests were being endangered by the series of alleged arson attacks outside her hotel in the summer of 2012.
Sheriff David Sutherland also heard evidence from Mrs Morris’s stepson and her barman who told the trial they saw a man on CCTV trying to ignite the wheelie bin one night in August. When they caught up with him they found it was Duncan.
The court heard there was agreed evidence that there had been a series of fires started in the bins between July 22 and August 19 of 2012 and Mrs Morris’s car was damaged.
Mrs Morris said the bins had been set on fire 10 or 11 times then her car was set alight.
Breaking down in tears when cross-examined by Duncan’s solicitor Ken Ferguson, Mrs Morris said: "We even had the letter box taped up because we were petrified. I had three children staying with me and an elderly couple who were guests. I have lost a lot of business over this."
The trial was told how a CCTV camera was set up one Saturday night on a railing at the front of the hotel after a fire in the wheelie bin earlier in the evening.
From inside the darkened bar a group watched the images being screened onto a TV.
Mrs Morris’s stepson Lee (37) and barman Craig Wightman (32) left the bar pursuing the man and Mr Wightman rugby tackled him.
Mr Wightman said when he pulled back the hood he said he knew exactly was.Both he and Lee Morris identified him as Duncan.
Lee Morris was later convicted of assaulting Duncan, but Mr Wightman was cleared.
