A Dundee man with a “fire fascination” who started a blaze close to propane gas canisters and petrol pumps at a Broughty Ferry filling station has been jailed for almost three years.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that minutes after starting the first blaze, Jonathan Wishart, 27, a prisoner at Perth, lit another at the rear of a supermarket in Barnhill.
Sheriff Elizabeth Munro sent Wishart to jail for a total of 34 months after taking into account social work and psychiatric reports.
Wishart was described by solicitor Larry Flynn as having a “fire fascination” after admitting wilfully setting fire to an outdoor storage area on July 30, at the Esso Petrol Station on Dalhousie Road.
Wishart also admitted that, on the same day at Co-op supermarket, Campfield Square, Barnhill, he wilfully set fire to storage cages at the rear of the property.
Wishart further admitted a third charge that on May 10, at a common close in Hamilton Street, Broughty Ferry, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by making threats of violence towards Khalid Ahmed and Toby Molyneux and brandishing a knife.
Depute fiscal Vicki Bell told the court the cost of the damage at the filling station on Dalhousie Road was £2,250.
She said the blaze was quickly brought under control but a large portion of the fence had been burned and metal storage trolleys were also badly damaged.
She told the court the cost of the damage to the Co-op supermarket was £480.
Solicitor Larry Flynn told the court: “Obviously there is a psychiatric interest. There have always been concerns.
“He had over-indulged in tablets and had been mixing sleeping tablets.”
Sheriff Munro told Wishart: “I’ve been concerned about you through all of this. In some ways you are the author of your own downfall. However, my main concern has to be the protection of the public.”