The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Schoolchildren are accused of causing £1m blaze damage
Child arsonists as young as 10 were responsible for causing more than £1 million in damage at a Dundee industrial unit, its owner has claimed.
Nobody has so far been charged in connection with the blaze in Baldovie Industrial Estate last summer and a police investigation remains open.
It caused a major incident, with nearby roads closed for days and a warning to locals to stay indoors.
The warehouse’s owner Imran Amin has now claimed there is evidence to suggest the June incident was started by primary school youths.
Mr Amin said: “I believe kids were responsible.
“They were seen in the area at the time on CCTV and videos appeared on a (social media app)
Snapchat account. I feel like the police have stopped looking because they know it was children.”
Children have been linked to a number of fires 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 see this raised to 12 soon.
Mr Amin’s premises were leased to Carpet Reclaim Ltd., whose owner Darren Young says he lost everything.
Just under a year before, Mr Young said he feared youths could destroy his business after children set fire to four tonnes of carpet outside his building.
Mr Amin spoke of his sympathy for Mr Young and said that 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 that 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.”