Man behind fire which wrecked Glasgow church begged locals not to 'grass him in' after huge blaze

A man who started a huge fire which wrecked a historic church was jailed today for five years and three months.

Ryan Haggerty, 26, sparked the inferno at St Simon's in Glasgow 's Partick last July 28 with an adjoining house where an elderly nun lived also badly damaged.

Soot-covered Haggerty was clocked nearby and told a group of people: "Don't grass me in."

A judge heard how it would take "several millions" of pounds to possibly restore the nineteenth-century building, which is the third oldest Catholic church in the city.

Haggerty pled guilty to a charge of wilful fire-raising at the High Court in Glasgow. It emerged he already had a previous conviction for the same crime.

Judge Lord Mulholland told him: "The church you set fire to was clearly an integral place of worship for people who needed it most.

"If it is able to be re-built it would cost millions. You put the life of a 79-year-old nun who was sleeping there at risk and it is fortunate you are not facing the crime of murder.

"You are no stranger to wilful fire raising but this conduct is a serious escalation. I consider that an extended sentence is appropriate."

Haggerty will be put under supervision for five years upon his release from prison. The court heard Haggerty lived in homeless accommodation close to St Simon's at the time.

A string of 999 calls were made around 2.30am that morning after it was spotted the popular church - built in 1858 - was alight.

Prosecutor Eilidh Robertson said: "Ryan Haggerty deliberately set fire to St Simon's. Due to the almost complete destruction of the building, little can be ascertained precisely how it started and where the seat of the fire was."

However, investigators believed it was sparked in the main chapel area with no