Jailed, thug who tried to burn homeless man alive in sleeping bag

A THUG who tried to murder a homeless man by setting fire to his sleeping bag as he slept has been jailed for six and a half years.

Mareks Vilkins was only woken by the smoke and heat from his bedding.

Yesterday, Graham Moffat was jailed after he admitted attempted murder at the High Court in Glasgow.

Moffat, in a distinctive red jacket, was caught on CCTV pulling out a lighter and setting fire to the sleeping bag on August 2, 2018 in Glasgow.

Judge Lord Matthews said: ‘You have pleaded guilty to attempting to murder a homeless gentleman by setting fire to a sleeping bag in which he was sleeping in the early hours of the morning.

‘He woke up due to the heat, fumes and smoke coming from his sleeping bag. There were no flames. This was both his and your good fortune.

‘Had fate taken another turn he would have met a most horrible death and you would be facing a murder charge.’

Moffat’s defence counsel Sarah Livingstone described his behaviour in the CCTV clips shown to the court as ‘bizarre’.

Miss Livingstone added: ‘He has absolutely no recollection of doing this.’

The court heard that homeless Moffat, a former fishery worker, has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and psychiatric issues, but at the time of the murder bid was legally responsible for his actions.

Prosecutor Liam Ewing said the attempted murder took place at a set of steps at the main entrance to the Lodging House Mission in the city’s East Campbell Street.

He said CCTV showed ‘a naked flame’ in Moffat’s right hand as he bent down to where Mr Vilkins was lying.

Mr Ewing said: ‘Around 1.56am, Mr Vilkins was woken by heat, fumes and smoke coming from the bottom of his sleeping bag.’

The court heard that after putting out the fire, Mr Vilkins went back to sleep. Later that morning, he told staff at the Mission what had happened and they contacted police.

Officers viewed CCTV footage from the Mission and as they walked along East Campbell Street they saw Moffat, still wearing the red jacket with six lighters in an inside pocket.

Mr Vilkins was uninjured in the incident.