A Portsoy family with young children was forced to flee their home at night after a man set fire to their neighbour’s flat in a row over money.
Ryan Gallon torched a carpet in the North Street property after first turning up to confront the occupant who was out at the time.
Immediately after he started the blaze, the bumbling 29-year-old realised it was a “stupid” thing to do and “panicked”.
However, Gallon’s frantic attempts to extinguish the flames failed, with Gallon leaping out of a window to flee the scene, cutting his leg and leaving behind his DNA.
A terrified neighbour, who saw the smoke and “glow” from the fire, woke his partner and children and ushered them outside – away from danger.
Gallon and the flat occupant ‘do not have an amicable relationship’
Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that Gallon and the man who resided at the fire-damaged address knew each other.
They “do not have an amicable relationship,” Ms Martin explained.
Around 11.35pm on February 8 this year, Gallon arrived at the crime scene while the complainer was visiting friends in Aberdeen.
Gallon entered the flat while a female he was with stayed on the street and asked a neighbour where the occupant was.
Ms Martin said: “The accused then jumped out of an open window, shouting about a cut that he had sustained to his leg.
“The accused then ran from the area in the direction of Low Street, Portsoy.”
‘He’s struggling to explain why he did this’
A neighbour tried to chase Gallon but noticed smoke and an “orange glow” coming from the property.
The neighbour shouted to alert his partner and the couple woke their children and evacuated their home in the same block of flats over fears that the blaze would spread.
They called 999 and fire crews forced their way into the flat, isolated the electricity supply and put the fire out.
Blood found on the windowsill was later forensically linked to Gallon.
The HMP Grampian prisoner pled guilty to a charge of wilful fire-raising.
His defence agent Stuart Beveridge said burn marks to the flooring were the only damage caused by the fire started by his client.
He went on: “When he entered the property, he set fire to the carpet. He then realised it was a stupid thing to have done and tried to extinguish the fire, panicked and left.
“He’s struggling to explain why he did this.”
‘Luck the consequences were not far more serious’
Mr Beveridge said Gallon had tried to “confront” the occupant about “a money issue” and was “ashamed” of his actions.
He explained that his client, a father-of-one, had previously worked with the Border Force and subsequently as a merchant seaman.
“He formed a pattern of work hard, play hard,” Mr Beveridge told the sheriff, adding: “He’d come back on shore and would be drinking, taking recreational drugs and getting himself into trouble.
“While on remand he’s cleared his head and got clean of all drugs.”
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Gallon: “This is an extremely serious matter. It is complete and utter luck the consequences were not far more serious than the damage to the property.
“The risk here is illustrated by the description of the neighbour feeling the need to evacuate his own property for fear of the potential course of the fire.
“I’m satisfied imprisonment is the only appropriate sentence in your case.”
Sheriff Miller ordered Gallon to be jailed for 18 months, backdated to April 10 when he was remanded, and imposed a nine-month supervised release order.
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