A pair of thugs who firebombed a couple’s home as they slept in bed have been locked up for a total of almost 11 years.
Aiden McGregor, 20, and Daniel McAleney, 22, targeted the ground floor flat with a Molotov cocktail in Arbroath in the early hours of October 5.
David McColl and Anna Locke were awoken by a loud bang and a flash.
They escaped being seriously hurt as the blaze was extinguished.
Mr McColl had earlier been the target of malicious rumours in the area.
‘Fortunate’ not to face murder charge
At the High Court in Glasgow, McGregor was sentenced by judge Lord Mulholland to six years in prison after he pled guilty to attempted murder.
McAleney was locked up for four years and eight months after he admitted the reduced charge of assaulting the couple to the danger of their lives.
Lord Mulholland told the pair: “You effectively firebombed a couple as they slept in their house.
“You are fortunate not to be facing a charge of murder, which you would have done had these occupants died.”
Unfounded claims
Prosecutor David Dickson said there had been a rumour Mr McColl had robbed a disabled man.
He denied this and police were unaware of any report being made.
McAleney meanwhile, believed Mr McColl was involved in a break-in at his house.
Mr Dickson said: “This appears to be the motivation for the criminal conduct of both.
“Any concerns McAleney had were not made to the police and he took the matter into his own hands.
“He sought the assistance of his friend McGregor.”
Hours before the fire attack, McAleney daubed graffiti outside the couple’s flat and smashed a window.
At around 1am, police were alerted to what appeared to be a petrol bomb outside the building in Sidney Street.
Later that morning, Mr McColl and Miss Locke were in bed before getting up to discover a fire in their living room.
A panicking Mr McColl grabbed a jacket to quell the blaze.
Miss Locke then noticed a fire at their front door, the only route out of the property.
Again, her partner managed to put it out.
Mr Dickson said: “They noticed a strong smell of petrol and found a broken beer bottle on the living room floor.”
After a 999 call, a trawl of CCTV pinned McGregor and McAleney in the area at the time of the crimes.
This included McGregor clutching an item that appeared alight, before an explosion, after it was hurled at a kitchen window.
