Teenage girl who started school fire put on probation

Ateenage girl who sparked a deliberate blaze which forced a school evacuation has been placed on probation for 18 months.

The 17-year-old left two staff members needing medical treatment after using blankets and toilet roll to start the fire at Rossie Young Persons Trust school.

She was also placed under social work supervision for 18 months as a sheriff told her it was time to become a useful member of society.

Sheriff Alistair Carmichael told her during a video link hearing from Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday: “This is a real opportunity you are getting.

“It’s a good chance for you to get it all together and become a useful member of society, which is what I am looking for.”

The court heard how the teenager had been left alone in a room at the Rossie school in Montrose when she used a lighter to start the fire.

Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan told the court: “She is 17 and was a school pupil at the time. She resided at Rossie and was based in a secure unit.

“She arrived back from leave. She was left with two blankets while staff prepared a search. Staff went in and there was a fire in the centre of the room and black smoke emanating from within.

“The accused refused to come out and had to be forcibly removed. The fire alarms were sounding. It is a school with lots of children with complex needs.”

Two members of staff and the accused were all given oxygen while the rest of the school was evacuated and the fire brigade dealt with the blaze.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted starting a fire which spread to several rooms and forced evacuation at the school on November 8 2019.

Solicitor Brian Bell, defending, said the girl had been moved to Scotland from another part of the UK because of a shortage of appropriate secure school spaces.

“Staff went in and there was a fire in the centre of the room and black smoke emanating from within