Friends' fallout over boxing gloves led to house being set on fire in attempted murder

dailyrecord.co.uk:

By Connor GordonA murder bid thug torched the family home of a former friend during a dispute over boxing gloves.Stephen Robertson, 50, started the blaze at the house Brian Hendry shared with his wife Nicola and deaf son Ethan.A judge watched horror CCTV footage of the fire ripping through the property in Renfrew on May 23 last year as the family slept.The trio luckily managed to escape the inferno in Western Park Gate that wrecked the house leaving a £140,000 repair bill.Robertson pled guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to the attempted murder of Brian, 48, Nicola, 48, and Ethan, 21, by wilful fire raising.He also admitted a separate charge of breaching his bail conditions.He will be sentenced next month. Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here. The court heard the family's seven-year friendship with Robertson "deteriorated in September 2020 due to an argument over borrowed property."The family were asleep on the night of the incident when Robertson turned up.Prosecutor Greg Farrell said: "Robertson poured petrol onto the front door of the property, ignited it, causing a fire to take hold, then ran off."Nicola was suddenly awoken at 3am as a smoke alarm sounded.The stunned mum then saw a "bright orange glow" coming from downstairs before shouting: "Brian, the house is on fire."Brian raced to try and extinguish the blaze which had spread through the property but was unsuccessful.He was able to open the front door and the trio were able to make their way out to the street.M