A Fife petrol bomber has thanked a sheriff for giving him another chance.
Greg Smith, 22, created a Molotov cocktail and threw it through the window of his former friend’s home.
He claimed his intended victim had stolen his bank card in a break-in.
Smith, who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court last month to admit wilful fire-raising on November 9 and later assaulting a police officer.
Petrol bomb
At a previous hearing at the court, his solicitor Alistair Burleigh said Smith had been friends with a neighbour but his home was ransacked and his bank card stolen.
He said he saw on CCTV at a nearby filling station it was his neighbour who had taken the card and was using it.
He smashed his former friend’s window, lit a bottle of flammable liquid and threw it into the flat in Caithness Place, Kirkcaldy.
Police later caught up with him and he admitted everything.
Despite his initial apparent contrition, the following day while he was in a cell at Kirkcaldy police station, he spat on a police support officer.
Mr Burleigh continued: “There is obviously a variety of issues that impacted him.
“He attempted to live on his own. He was pretty isolated.
“He became, in effect, more isolated.
“It was an attempt at independent living that led to him becoming involved in drug misuse.
“He had been taking drugs.”
At the sentencing hearing, Mr Burleigh said his client had been drug free since November.
Sentencing
Sheriff James Williamson placed Smith, now of Orchard Grove, Leven, under supervision for three years.
He must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the next year and he was warned if the order was breached once, he would be jailed for two years.
The sheriff said: “Mr Smith, you should understand… that you would ordinarily be sent to custody for some time.
“What I have to do is take into account various matters which perhaps were affecting your thinking at the time.”
Addressing the sheriff after being sentenced, Smith said: “Thank you for giving me a chance.”
