A woman who set a bed on fire and had to be dragged from the property as the fire took hold has made good progress since the incident, Campbeltown Sheriff Court was told at its March sitting.
Sheriff Euan Cameron heard that Carla McKee had committed no further offences since the day of the incident, which happened at an address in the town on February 10, 2022.
McKee, aged 46, whose address was given as Albyn Avenue, Campbeltown, had previously admitted wilfully setting fire to a bed and the fire taking effect and causing extensive damage throughout the property, to the danger of others.
The case waited to come to court because of a delay in the preparation of specialist reports on McKee, as well as the usual community justice social work reports; this was, the sheriff had said at an earlier sitting, through no fault of McKee’s.
Sheriff Cameron said: “You had to be forced from the property by police officers; you said you wanted to die and were determined to self-harm.”
McKee’s defence agent, John B McGeechan, said that his client had fully co-operated with the preparation of the reports and had attended court regularly, adding: “She is benefitting from the assistance she is getting.”
Sheriff Cameron told McKee that he was satisfied that the case “crossed the threshold of custody”, but that she would be placed on a community pay back order for three years. This included supervision and therapy, and the completion of 225 hours of unpaid work within the first 12 months.
“Please do not think this is the easy option; if you put one foot out of line, you will go to prison for a very long time,” the sheriff told McKee, “the future is in your hands.”
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