Pair started fire
Fire starters convicted and await sentencing
terrified residents fled for their lives after two women torched a flat in Ayr High street.
Margaret Pettigrew, 40, and shirley Pitt, 34, both of Mill street in Ayr, doused cloths and papers in white spirit before setting them alight at 138 High street, above the tesco Express.
the pair admitted starting the fire on August 28 last year. Flames broke out and caused damage to the property and fabric inside the flat.
Four residents had to be led downstairs to safety by firefighters after the stairway which leads to the only exit had filled with choking smoke, leaving folk with no way out.
the smoke also engulfed rooms in neighbouring flats and the residents were escorted out by crews using masks.
Two female yobs have admitted endangering the lives of others as they recklessly started a fire within a High Street flat.
Margaret Pettigrew, 40, and Shirley Pitt, 34, both of Mill Street in Ayr, doused cloths and papers in white spirit before setting them alight at 138 High Street in Ayr, located above popular Tesco Express.
The double trouble pair admitted flames broke out and caused damage to the property and fabric inside the flat on August 28 last year.
At the time, four residents had to be led downstairs to safety by firefighters after the stairway which leads to the only exit had filled with choking smoke – leaving folk with no way out.
The smoke also engulfed rooms in neighbouring flats and the residents were escorted out by crews using masks.
The pair pled guilty to the charge when appearing at Ayr Sheriff Court last Wednesday.
Pitt, who is heavily pregnant, also admitted stealing an oven and hob from the home on the same occasion.
Her accomplice Pettigrew faced another charge of carrying a knife a month later on September 13, 2017, which she admitted.
Pitt’s defence solicitor John Gallagher asked the court if the diet could be adjourned for a later date, commenting that his client was due to give birth in five weeks time.
The duo also faced charges of breaking into a flat on Carrick Street with intent to steal.
And also of trying to unscrew screws from a skylight at The Townhouse Cafe on Carrick Street, again with intent to steal.
But the pair denied the charges, which was accepted by the procurator fiscal.
They pled guilty to wilfully setting fire to cloths, paper and other items doused in white spirit, with the fire taking effect and causing damage to the property, therein to the danger to the lives of others within the flats in the building there.
The diet was adjourned for the court to obtain social work reports.
The pair will reappear at a later date for sentencing.