Man who started fire 'took selfies and laughed'

A man who took selfies and laughed as firefighters battled a blaze he started deliberately has been jailed for four years.

Freddie Pritchard, 29, lit a cigarette on his bed, along with aerosol canisters and vapes before leaving the room at the property in Main Street, Ayr.

Three other flats and a commercial unit below were evacuated during the fire, which South Ayrshire Council estimates caused between £25,000 and £30,000 in damage.

Pritchard had initially claimed the fire was started by a faulty phone charger, but pleaded guilty to wilful fire-raising earlier this year.

A total of 10 firefighters took two hours to extinguish the blaze, which was started on 27 May this year.

The court heard how while firefighters tackled the blaze, Pritchard was acting in a "light-hearted manner".

Prosecutor Brian Gill KC told the court: "He was taking selfies and photos of the fire engines

"He was phoning friends as well as laughing and joking."

Neighbour in a panic

Pritchard - a convicted sex offender - had been living in the council-flat on Ayr Main Street since he was released from prison on 1 March.

The court heard how he made no attempts to inform the other residents about the fire.

A neighbour heard an alarm in Pritchard's home before noticing flames and a large plume of black smoke entering his flat.

The neighbour was in a "panic" and feared he would not be able to get his pet cats out in time.

Firefighters then arrived and helped the man and his pets safely out of the smoke-filled building.

No-one was injured during the fire.

Wilful fire-raising

Pritchard initially claimed that he had come home from the hospital and that his phone charger had caught fire.

An investigation later found that the fire had been started deliberately.

In the following days, Pritchard told witnesses that he had used a cigarette to start the blaze but had "not expected it to take hold the way it had".

He claimed that his aim was either to return home to live with his parents or to be charged.

Pritchard, who has a conviction for a similar offence in 2014, pleaded guilty to wilful fire-raising when he appeared at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this year, where he was remanded in custody.

At his sentencing, defence advocate Lorenzo Alonzi told judge Lord Young that his client had a background of mental health problems.

He said that Pritchard had a learning disability, had been diagnosed with ADHD and was under the care of a psychologist.

Mr Alonzi said: "He is not, in my submission, a bad person. He is failing to cope."

Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Young described Pritchard as an "immature" and "reckless" man and said that a substantial custodial sentence was "inevitable".

Lord Young told Pritchard that if he had not pleaded guilty, he would have been handed a prison term of six years.