A grieving Fife man caused mayhem when he lit a firework in tribute to his late brother and accidently launched it into his mum’s kitchen.
The stray rocket whizzed into the room, sending terrified family members running for cover.
Joe Arnott had wanted to send the firework into the night sky as a final goodbye to his brother, Louis, following his funeral earlier that day.
But Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard the squib’s stick snapped before he lit it, sending it off in the wrong direction.
Arnott, 32, of Dunfermline’s Robertson Road, appeared in the dock and pleaded guilty to culpably and recklessly igniting a firework which then flew into an occupied house to the danger of injury of the occupants within the property.
Explosion
The court heard the back door to his mum Katherine Anderson’s house was open as she had been smoking a cigarette in the kitchen at the time.
Arnott’s other brother, Benn, was also in the room.
Procurator fiscal depute Alistair McDermid said: “He (Benn Arnott) heard a hissing sound. A lit firework then flew through the open back door.
“The kitchen began to fill with smoke and the fire alarm activated. Benn Arnott grabbed Anderson and pulled her into the hall and shut the door. They were both screaming.
“Once the door was shut the firework exploded.”
Police officers and firefighters attended the property in Rosyth’s Burnside Crescent following a 999 call.
A fire service watch commander observed no active fire.
The depute fiscal continued: “The smell of sulphur was hanging in the air and some of the tiles in the kitchen were scorch-marked.
“The black tube from the firework was recovered.”
He added: “When interviewed the accused indicated that the stick on the firework had snapped prior to him setting it off.
“He indicated that he had set it off in his hand. He denied any intent to damage property or injure anyone.
“He indicated that setting off the firework was meant to be one last goodbye to his brother.”
The court also heard that scaffolder Arnott had been drinking alcohol after his brother’s funeral earlier in the day.
The incident itself happened shortly after midnight on June 24, 2020.
‘Highly emotional’
Defence lawyer Stephen Morrison said Arnott’s brother had died towards the end of May 2020 due to a heart condition.
As part of the commemorations, fireworks had been let off previously in his mother’s back garden.
Mr Morrison said Arnott was in a “highly emotional state” at the time of the incident and that there was no intention to hurt anyone.
The solicitor said: “His brother, Benn, was irate at the time, which is why he left.
“There is no ongoing ill feeling with family in relation to the relationship with his mother or brother.”
Sheriff Charles Macnair deferred sentence until May 9 for background reports, including a restriction of liberty order assessment.
But the sheriff told Arnott that, in order to avoid a prison sentence, his social work report would have to be “outstanding” given he has an unexpired portion of a previous sentence.
Arnott was released on bail.
