Home alone OAP’s terror as yobs ignite conservatory

Oct 7 2011 by Denis Brown, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

WHEELIE bins torched by unknown “yobs” sparked a blaze that almost consumed a conservatory and traumatised an elderly Perth resident.

Fortunately the woman – who was reading in bed – smelled smoke and raised the alarm in time for fire fighters to extinguish the deliberately lit fire at her home in the Fair City’s Kinnoull district.

Flames

“It must have been about midnight when I smelled something strange,” said the terrified OAP.

“I walked through the house thinking ‘something’s not right’, and when I got to the conservatory, I saw a glow in the window.

“So I opened the blinds and got the shock of my life – my rubbish bins had been burnt to a cinder and the flames had caught hold of the conservatory itself.

“The firefighters told me that the whole house could have gone up – so what would have happened to me if I’d taken my sleeping pills that night?

“And when I have house guests, they sleep in the conservatory, so they could have been overcome with smoke and fumes – God knows what could have happened really.”

But the incident on September 25 was not an isolated case, with a separate overnight arson attack on wheelie bins at a nearby Manse Road property in the same leafy residential area on September 8.

Only two days later, wing mirrors were kicked off at least two vehicles, one parked on Manse Road.

According to the conservatory blaze victim, the culprits were local “yobs” returning from nights out, who may also be responsible for other vandalism.

The woman – who lives alone with two dogs – said an unprecedented wave of anti-social incidents during the past year had included random graffiti, overturned grit boxes and damage to private property.

She said intruders had previously smashed plant pots on her doorstep more than once.

“I’ve lived here for 28 years and have never known anything like it, it’s just ridiculous,” she said.

“But now they’re setting light to bins and could easily end up killing people.”

The area’s community officer, PC Dave Rice, acknowledged the latest arson incident could have ended in tragedy and confirmed an investigation was ongoing.

But efforts to find witnesses via door-to-door enquiries had drawn a blank as had reviewing the Isle of Skye Hotel’s CCTV footage for possible suspects walking over the Queen’s Bridge.

“Obviously we’re looking to tackle this problem but it appears we’re not being alerted to incidents by residents as much as we should, so we are appealing to the public to keep us in the loop,” he said.

He revealed that two separate incidents of willful destruction at nearby Murray Royal Hospital’s Walled Garden – where potting shed windows were smashed and other items vandalised – could be connected.

“And now these other incidents in Kinnoull have come to light, things happening in the area that we were not fully aware of, we are initiating an organised response,” he said.

A Tayside Police spokesman conceded it was possible that further incidents had taken place but had not been reported.

“We want to stress that no-one should have to tolerate this type of behaviour,” he said.

“So we’d ask residents not to suffer in silence but to report any suspicious behaviour or activity to the police immediately.

“Anti-social and criminal behaviour in our communities will not be tolerated and our officers will be giving the area extra attention.’’

lContact Tayside Police on 0300 111 2222 or pass information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.