Drugged-up yob started huge flat block blaze after lighting candles and falling asleep

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A drugged-up yob who fell asleep after lighting candles and incense sticks in his bedroom sparked a massive fire which gutted his block of flats and left neighbours homeless.Dozy Shaun Rumney woke up to find his ground floor flat well alight and flames ripping through the rest of the building.But instead of calling the emergency services and alerting his neighbours, Rumney did a runner from the property in Livingston, West Lothian.He even assaulted a man in his desperation to get away, a court heard.Multiple properties in the Almond Housing block were burned out in the devastating inferno which shattered windows and caused the roof to cave in.Residents had to be evacuated from their homes by emergency services with one needing to be treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.A number of families had to be placed in alternative accommodation because the fire caused extensive damage to the interior and exterior of their homes.Rumney, 28, appeared at Livingston Sheriff Court on Monday via a video link from Addiewell Prison, where he is currently on remand.He pleaded guilty to culpably and recklessly starting the fire at Katherine Street, Craigshill, on 27 January 2022.He admitted lighting a quantity of candles and incense sticks within the bedroom of his flatted dwelling, "consuming a quantity of controlled substances” and falling asleep with the materials still alight.The charge states that on waking and being aware that a fire had taken hold and spread throughout the premises he left, failing to alert either the occupants of neighbouring properties or the emergency services.He then jumped over a wall of the back garden and fled the scene, all in the knowledge that the fire was ongoing “thereby causing significant damage to