Woman set fire to mattress outside Paisley home of couple who made noise complaint

A woman who was caught on camera setting a fire outside the home of a couple who had allegedly made noise complaints against her relative has been jailed for two years.

Kelly Marie McDonald, 38, claimed she started the blaze in order to get her relative out of the flat that she lived in nearby.

The High Court heard how she she was captured on a Ring doorbell camera dragging a mattress across the front door of one of the homes before setting it alight.

She then piled a bag of rubbish and a doormat on top of the blaze. The two householders who lived in the flat had their lives placed in danger.

The blaze quickly took hold forcing the couple inside to escape to their balcony.

McDonald then stood outside filming the fire crews racing to the scene in Millarston Drive, Paisley, on February 27, 2022.

The tenants living at the block were luckily rescued and police officers obtained the footage from the Ring camera which showed McDonald’s actions.

McDonald, of Foxbar, appeared for sentencing on a charge of wilful fire raising and placing the lives of the residents in danger.

She stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this year charged with attempting to murder the couple.

The court heard claims she had deliberately targeted the householders after noise complaints were allegedly made about McDonald’s teenage relative, who lived across the landing.

The mum denied the murder bid claiming she had been told by her relative no one else lived in the block at the time.

Jurors convicted McDonald on the reduced charge of wilful fire-raising to the danger of those in the block.

Jurors were shown the Ring doorbell footage of pulling the large mattress across the door and initially trying to torch it with a cigarette from her mouth.

There was then a “clicking” of what sounded like a lighter before flames and smoke quickly emerged.

The court heard how the couple who lived there soon became aware of the potentially catastrophic blaze and escaped to their veranda.

The fire brigade arrived, but only after they battled through thick smoke having initially been unable to see inside the close.

McDonald gave evidence and told how she had gone to visit her relative for the first time at the new build flats.

She said her relative was “crying, upset” and wanted McDonald “to look after her” following an incident at a party.

The women drank alcohol during several hours at the flat.

McDonald said she had no recollection of the fire and her next memory was being in a police cell.

She told the jury the first she saw the Ring doorbell footage was when her legal team showed her in March 2023.

Jurors acquitted her on the attempted murder charge but convicted her on the lesser charge.

But Lord Harrower told McDonald she had to go to prison for her crimes.