Tagged over 8 deliberate fires
200 hours’ unpaid work
A serial firebug who started eight fires deliberately in Maybole has been tagged at last.
John James Donnelly torched Maybole Juniors home twice and burned an HGV.
Bizarrely, he volunteered at the Ladywell Stadium ground and even washed the strips.
Donnelly has conducted multiple similar attacks since September, 2015.
The 28- year- old set bins on fire five times in his home street at Miller Terrace.
As punishment, Donnelly was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work at Ayr Sheriff Court this week. He must stay indoors between 8pm and 7am for six months and undergo supervision for two years.
He admitted targeting Maybole Juniors on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day last year.
The home dressing room and manager’s room were badly damaged and the team’s kit destroyed. There was also a hole burned in the middle of the physio’s table.
He set fire to bags and unknown items in the physio room. There was extensive smoke damage to the fabric of the building and contents of the changing room.
On October 8 last year, Donnelly torched an HGV on a road, near Coral Glen in the town, causing extensive damage to the vehicle trailer and contents.
Donnelly also pleaded guilty to willfully setting rubbish alight in wheelie bins on Miller Terrace causing fires to take effect and cause damage on five occasions. He conducted the bin blazes during 2015 on September 6, October 3, November 1 and 4. He lit another one on May 2, 2016.
He was also charged with setting fire to a wooden shed fire at Carrick Academy on May 20 but his not guilty plea was accepted by the prosecutor.
Donnelly is due back in court for a community order payback review in January.