Crook jailed for setting alight van in Paisley to cover up minor crash

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A crook has been slammed by a sheriff after he set his employer’s van on fire in Paisley to cover up the fact he had crashed it.While James Rae’s boss was on holiday in October last year, he had been asked to carry out some extra delivery shifts.During a shift, Rae – who has multiple High Court convictions – crashed the van into a lorry and rather than own up to his boss, he took the vehicle back to the Clark Street yard and set it on fire in a “premeditated criminal act” which caused £10,000 worth of damage.The 45-year-old claimed he “was in a state of panic” but Sheriff Eoin McGinty refused to believe the pathetic excuse and jailed Rae, described as a prisoner of Low Moss jail, East Dunbartonshire, for 55 weeks.Prosecutor, Dana Barclay told Paisley Sheriff Court: “Around 5.35pm on October 21, police tasked the Scottish fire service to attend a van which had been observed to be on fire in Clark Street.

The watch commander concluded the fire had been set deliberately and was wilful.“DNA swabs were taken from within the vehicle and police spoke to the owner, Mr Martin, who advised the driver would have been Rae.

Officers attended at Rae’s house and he stated he was the driver.Renfrewshire Live, the new free app dedicated to bringing you around the clock breaking news, is now available to download.Powered by the Paisley Daily Express, Renfrewshire Live is your go-to source for news, features and sport with live coverage provided direct to the app, seven days a week.The dedicated team of experienced journalists, responsible for the publication of the award-winning Express, will focus on breaking news, day and night, across Renfrewshire’s towns and villages.There is also a dedicated St Mirren section that will follow every