‘Children started warehouse blaze’

CHILD arsonists as young as 10 were responsible for causing more than £1 million of damage at a Dundee industrial unit, its owner has claimed.

No one has so far been charged in connection with the blaze at Baldovie Industrial Estate last summer and a police investigation remains open.

It caused a major incident with nearby roads closed for days, while local people were warned to stay indoors.

Warehouse owner Imran Amin has now claimed there is evidence to suggest the June incident was started by primary school-aged children.

Mr Amin said: “I believe kids were responsible.

“They were seen in the area at the time on CCTV and videos appeared on a Snapchat account.

“I feel the authorities have stopped looking because they know it was children.”

Youngsters have been linked to a number of fires in the area in recent years.

These include serious incidents at the former Crieff Primary School and Braeview Academy in Dundee.

The age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is one of the lowest in the world and the lowest in Europe at eight years old.

However, an Act passed in 2019 will result in this being raised to 12 soon.

Mr Amin’s premises was leased to Carpet Reclaim Ltd., whose owner Darren Young said he had lost everything.

Less than a year earlier, Mr Young said he feared youngsters could destroy his business after children set fire to four tonnes of carpet outside the building.

Mr Amin said he had sympathy for Mr Young and added he is still trying to recover costs himself.

He said: “We are covered through insurance but we’re still going through that process.

“There’s nothing we can do in terms of the police investigation.”

The debris-strewn Forties Road site, formerly owned by the Wood Group, remains clearly visible from Drumgeith Road. Its future is still unclear.

A Police Scotland spokesman said the case is still active and added: “The investigation into a wilful fire that occurred at a building on the Baldovie Industrial Estate, Dundee, around 8.20pm on Sunday June 7 2020 remains open.

“Anyone with any information regarding the fire is asked to contact police via 101.”

Smoke billowing from the warehouse during the fire in June last year.