A Lochaber man has been jailed for causing a £420,000 fire at a Mallaig hotel.
Jack Salter, 26, was jailed by Sheriff Ian Cruickshank for a total of 30 months after he denied “wilfully” setting the blaze but admitted culpably and recklessly causing it.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told he had “no good reason” to be inside the West Highland Hotel and it’s believed he moved a heater that then sparked the fire.
At an earlier hearing, the court heard Salter was caught climbing through a hedge with items he had taken from inside the hotel, leaving the fire to take hold.
The blaze, on January 3 last year, engulfed three floors of the building, affecting parts of an extension.
Fiscal depute Pauline Gair told Sheriff Cruickshank: “On top of an insurance pay-out of £270,000, a further £150,000 was spent on other works, some of those were upgrades and some because there was an inability to replace like for like.”
The court had previously been told the owners lost £280,000 in earnings due to its closure.
When Salter appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court by video link today, his lawyer, Graham Mann, said: “He was in a room he had no good reason to be. He had no accelerants with him and the suspicion is a heater had been moved while he was in there.
“That is why a plea to a lesser charge was tendered.”
Sheriff Cruickshank said there was no alternative to a prison sentence for the hotel fire and jailed him for 22 months. It was backdated to May 24 this year when Salter was remanded in custody for failing to appear at court.
He pleaded guilty to that charge.
Smoke and flames coming from hotel
At the earlier hearing, Mrs Gair’s colleague, fiscal depute Emily Hood told the court that it was about 9.20pm when witnesses living near to the hotel heard “loud banging noises” and went to investigate.
“They exited their home and observed smoke and flames coming from the West Highland Hotel,” she said.
It was shortly after this that the couple saw Salter climbing through a hedge.
“He was specifically coming away from the part of the hotel the witnesses could see smoke and fire within,” she added.
The court heard that Salter, who was carrying items including photo frames, told the couple that he was residing at the hotel and had “saved” the frames.
“He appeared under the influence of alcohol as he was stumbling and slurring his words,” the fiscal depute added.
Salter restrained by witnesses in aftermath of fire
Despite Salter’s claims that he had already alerted the fire brigade, witnesses called 999 and one then entered the hotel in a soon-abandoned attempt to fight the flames.
“The witness continued toward the hotel past the accused and forced entry to the rear door to tackle the blaze. However, he immediately identified this was not possible,” Ms Hood said.
When firefighters arrived on the scene three floors of the hotel’s extension were on fire. They spent 10 hours fighting the blaze, which was contained to the owner’s accommodation block and 12 bedrooms.
Salter had been restrained by other witnesses due to his “erratic” behaviour and was later detained by police.
The hotel owners identified the items he was carrying as having come from within the living room of a staff apartment there.
Assault charge
The fiscal depute told the sheriff that the fire had cost the owners around £280,000 in lost earnings.
The fire led to the closure of one-third of the hotel and half of the hotel’s guest capacity was reduced for around a year.
The court also heard that on February 5 last year Salter kicked a man in the head following an argument at an address in Fort William.
“The next thing he recalls is waking up lying on the floor in a pool of blood,” said Ms Hood, who added that the witness was left with a large open wound on his cheek.”
Salter then failed to appear at a court hearing on March 3 last year.
Sheriff Cruickshank added another eight months to Salter’s sentence on the assault offence.
