A security engineer who clambered into a fire tragedy Perth hotel to reclaim his CCTV cameras told a court how he was treated by police as a murder suspect.
Jamie Grierson entered the New County Hotel through an upstairs window just weeks after the horrific blaze in January 2023 that claimed the lives of three people.
The 37-year-old said he went into the building to take back 15 camera units after a row with the hotel owner who, he claimed, was refusing to pay for them.
Mr Grierson was accused of breaking into the hotel and stealing the cameras.
He wept as he told Perth Sheriff Court how he was taken in for questioning after police raided his girlfriend’s home.
“They pretty much charged me with three counts of murder,” he said.
The Courier understands Mr Grierson was never charged with murder but he was questioned as a suspect before he gave police his explanation for being inside the building.
After a trial that has rumbled on for nearly a year, Mr Grierson was found not guilty of breaking into the New County Hotel and stealing the cameras.
Refused to install Ring doorbells in rooms
The trial has exposed the squalid and dangerous condition of the County Hotel in the weeks leading up to the tragedy.
Fire swept through the building in the early hours of January 2 2023, claiming the lives of sisters Donna Janse Van Rensburg, 44, and Sharon McLean, 47, from Aberdeen, and Edinburgh man Keith Russell, 38.
Donna’s dog Joey also died.
The court heard Mr Grierson had repeatedly warned the hotel’s owner about the state of the 23-bedroom venue.
On the sixth and final day of his trial, Mr Grierson said he had agreed to install cameras for the hotel’s owner, who he knew only as Omar.
But he said he halted work after getting an unusual request.
“He (Omar) had requested Ring doorbell cameras on some of the rooms.
“I’m not prepared to do something that is clearly not right.
“It was the most bizarre thing I had ever heard.”
Mr Grierson said he was involved in a “heated” discussion with Omar about payment for the 15 cameras.
The owner told him “do what you want”, which Mr Grierson believed was permission to retrieve the devices.
He also said he later received a text from Omar or someone else connected to the hotel, telling him: “Go ahead and get your stuff.”
Murder suspect
Mr Grierson went to the hotel on the day after the fire and explained his predicament to police standing guard outside.
“They told me it was a civil matter, they basically shrugged it off.”
Mr Grierson got a ladder to remove one external CCTV unit, which he said was witnessed by officers.
He came back in the small hours of February 15 and used a longer ladder to climb through a back window on an upper floor.
Inside he uninstalled the remaining cameras, some he said were fire damaged.
He told his solicitor Linda Clark he did not touch any other valuables inside, including laptops, computers and a stocked bar.
“The police raided my girlfriend’s home,” he said.
“They came through the door and pretty much charged me with three counts of murder.”
Acquitted
Sheriff Clair McLachlan told Mr Grierson: “You accepted that your actions were ill-advised.
“But that does not mean to say they crossed the line into criminality.
“I believe you thought you had the genuine consent of the hotel owner.
“And I note these cameras were the only items that you recovered.”
She found him not guilty, saying it was difficult to pinpoint any “nefarious purposes” he may have had.
“Sorry for wasting anyone’s time,” he said as he left the court.
Junk everywhere
Witness Lia Payne, 48, who had been in a relationship with Grierson at the time, earlier told the trial: “He was telling me about all the problems there.
“He showed me photos of rats. It was a hell hole.”
She spoke of piles of black bags in the kitchen, as well as drug addicts and sex workers coming in through a back door.
When interviewed by police about the alleged thefts, Mr Grierson said he was forced to halt work at the building due to its hazardous state.
“We were in rooms downstairs and it became apparent they weren’t the most hygienic.
“There were rooms full of rubbish bags, there was junk everywhere.
“You couldn’t walk anywhere without breathing in flies.”
There had been “electrical cables hanging loose everywhere,” Grierson said.
“I explained to the owner that due to the state of the hotel, we couldn’t do any more work until it was cleaned and rectified.”
He downed tools after fitting eight cameras.
Grierson said he spoke to a member of staff about tidying up the building.
“I genuinely think the guy was drunk, I could smell alcohol on him.”
He described a female employee as a “user or a junkie, if you like.”
“She had people coming back and forth at night,” he said.
Hotel owner Rashid Hussain died just months after the fire, in August 2023.
His company Perth Hospitality Ltd went into liquidation over an unpaid energy bill.
Emergency services say a joint probe into the blaze is still ongoing.
For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.
