A firebug branded “Scotland’s dumbest criminal” for setting fire to himself while torching cars in Dundee has been jailed for two years.
Footage showed hapless hood Darren Gibb, 33, fleeing the scene with his hand on fire.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Gibb was acting on the orders of gangland figures to set fire to three vehicles across the city in targeted attacks.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith also imposed an eight-month supervised release period to protect the public from serious harm once Gibb is freed from jail.
The sheriff said previously: “He set fire to himself clearly in one of the videos.
“He’s running with one of his hands on fire because the accelerant has gone on himself – Scotland’s dumbest criminal.”
Ferocious flames
Dramatic video footage showed the ferocious flames that engulfed the cars.
The sheriff said: “You pled guilty to three charges of wilful fireraising on three dates.
“You intended to cause financial harm and inconvenience to the owners of the vehicles.
“These acts were pre-meditated. You said you had been asked to set fire to the cars on behalf of another criminal or criminals.
“You attended in dark clothing and used accelerant and the crimes were pre-planned.
“Your blameworthiness is high and your case involves multiple victims.
“There was the potentiality of serious harm or even death by your actions.
“Your crimes were committed solely for your financial gain. You were acting as enforcer for a drug dealer.
“You were indebted to those who asked you to commit these crimes and you gained financially by having debts written off.
“You are not of good character generally.
“In committing one of the offences you managed to set fire to yourself and were lucky not to sustain a more substantial burn injury.”
Bungled attacks
The court heard how Gibb left the key fob to his partner’s home at the scene of the first crime, on Charleston Drive on September 19 last year, when he set fire to a Golf, with the damage spreading to a nearby Aygo.
On October 24, he took a taxi to an address in Kirkton shortly after 4am and destroyed an Audi in the driveway.
A message was spray painted on the ground, believed to relate to the daughter of a neighbour.
His third attack was on an Audi in the same street and was caught on a Ring doorbell.
Police arrested Gibb a short distance away, with burn marks on his hand, smelling of petrol and with part of his jacket melted.
Gibb, from Dundee, pled guilty to three charges of wilful fireraising on two separate streets in Dundee.
Solicitor Mike Short said Gibb “chose to follow instructions” from more serious and organised criminals after mounting up drug debts.
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