Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Police investigate wilful fireraising on Boddam boat

Susan and Gordon Morrison along with the boat, Rachel May, which was targeted by willful fire raisers
Susan and Gordon Morrison along with the boat, Rachel May, which was targeted by willful fire raisers

Police are investigating an alleged act of wilful fireraising on a boat in Boddam.

Gordon and Susan Morrison were walking their dogs by the harbour on Christmas Eve when they discovered someone had tried to set fire to their new boat.

The vessel, named Rachel May after the couple’s late mothers, was attacked by vandals who attempted to start a fire with a pile of moulding and another in the sink.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


The boat, which was purchased to replace the vessel currently used by Mr Morrison, has not yet got an engine, but will eventually be used for sea angler trips.

When they went on board, the pair found a singed t-shirt, empty drinks cans, cigarette butts, burned holes in the sink and scorch marks from the attempted blazes.

Police investigating the incident have taken the items for DNA testing.

Although damage to the boat, which was purchased by the couple in December last year, is minimal and is repairable, Mrs Morrison said she was concerned about the incident could have been so much worse.

She said: “It has been quite distressing.

“The police are taking it seriously and are treating it as a wilful fireraising.

“I posted pictures on Facebook to raise awareness and see if anyone recognised the t-shirt but also because people’s livelihoods were at risk.

“People don’t go to the harbour to hang out in the winter.

“If our boat had caught alight, it wouldn’t just be us affected, because all of the boats are at the pier as Boddam Harbour isn’t safe during winter, and those would have gone too.

“It was a real shock and it was a brand new boat – it doesn’t even have an engine just now so it’s worth about £60,000 but once it’s finished it will be about £300,000.

“It’s not a toy. This is serious stuff.

“Thankfully, the damage is minimal because what they piled up and tried to set alight seems to be fire retardant, but the fire set in the sink in the bathroom cubicle has burned through it.

“It could’ve been a lot worse.”

The couple, who live in Boddam, were contacted by the Harbour Committee and told there are plans for CCTV to be installed in the near future.

Mrs Morrison said: “It will bring peace of mind to all of the boat owners.

“People invest so much time and money into their boats.”