Woman who set fire to her home blamed the blaze on ‘junkies’

A Dunfermline woman set fire to her ground floor flat and blamed it on “junkies”, a court has heard.

Elaine Mackie, 54, a prisoner at Edinburgh, appeared from custody at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

She admitted that on October 4, at Mackie Place, she set fire to a curtain and that this went on to destroy a wall and floor.

Depute fiscal Sarah Lumsden said the fire broke out in Mackie’s home, a ground floor flat owned by Fife Council.

At 9.42pm police received a phone call from Mackie claiming two people were in her garden.

At 9.55pm she called police again, asking when officers would be attending. She made another call at 10.21pm saying she had set fire to her curtains.

The emergency services attended and police officers who spoke to her could see she was “clearly intoxicated” said the depute. “She told them that junkies had set fire to her curtains,” added Ms Lumsden.

After the fire had been put out, police left. Then at 11.26pm she phoned the police again saying: “It was me that set fire to the house and it was deliberate.”

Police went back to detain Mackie and she told them: “I set fire to my f ****** flat.”

The court heard the blaze caused damage that cost more than £2,800 to repair.

Defence solicitor Alexander Flett said he believed his client should have had more support in the community.

“She seems to have slipped through the net for people with learning difficulties,” he said.

Sheriff Charles MacNair called for reports and Mackie will appear for sentencing on December 12.