Lanarkshire woman guilty of fireraising after own home set ablaze

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A woman has been convicted of setting fire to her Motherwell home.Akbibi Macmillan suffered fractures to her back and ribs when she fell as she tried to get out of the blazing property on Morven Drive.A boy aged eight and two other females escaped unhurt.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android Macmillan, 51, claimed the fire on July 18, 2020, started accidentally, but she was convicted of fireraising after trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court.Police officers who were at her hospital bedside told the court she handed them a note intended for her husband that read 'I know sorry is not enough for what I did, but it was not planned or anything'.In the note she asked her husband to look after two children.PC Andrew Hossack said: "She was very emotional and was ranting and raving.

She kept trying to sit up in bed and kept saying she was sorry."The blaze broke out about noon and the court heard a neighbour used a ladder to rescue occupants from an upstairs room.Detective Sergeant Scott Wilson said separate fires appeared to have been started in the kitchen and the dining room.Giving evidence, Macmillan, who was born in Kazakhstan, said she usually smoked outside the house, but on that particular day she had a cigarette indoors because she was upset.Her husband had left her and that morning she had argued with him