Two men who firebombed a couple’s home as they slept have been jailed for a total of ten years.
Aiden McGregor, 20, and Daniel McAleney, 22, targeted the ground floor flat in Arbroath, Angus in the early hours last October 5.
David McColl and Anna Locke were startled by a loud bang and a flash.
They escaped being seriously hurt as the blaze was extinguished.
Mr McColl had earlier been the target of apparently malicious rumours in the local area.
McGregor was sentenced on Monday by judge Lord Mulholland to six years at the High Court in Glasgow after he pled guilty to attempted murder.
McAleney was locked up for four years and eight months after he admitted to the reduced charge of assaulting the couple to the danger of their lives.
The court heard hours before the fire attack McAleney daubed graffiti outside the couple’s flat and smashed a window.
Around 1am, police were then alerted to what appeared to be a petrol bomb outside the building.
Later that morning, Mr McColl and Ms Locke were in bed before getting up to discover a fire in their living room.
A panicked Mr McColl grabbed a jacket to quell the blaze.
Ms Locke then noticed a fire at their front door – again her partner managed to put it out.
Mr Dickson: “They noticed a strong smell of petrol and found a broken beer bottle on the living room floor.”
After a 999 call, a trawl of CCTV pinned McGregor and McAleney in the area at the time of the crimes.
This included McGregor clutching an item that appeared alight before an explosion after it was hurled at a kitchen window.
Lord Mulholland told the pair: “You effectively firebombed a couple as they slept in their house.
“You are fortunate not to be facing a charge of murder, which you would have done had these occupants died.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
