A pet owner set fire to his home with seven dogs inside during an animal welfare check by the SSPCAk.
John Malcolm started the blaze after inspectors from the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals called at his Edinburgh flat.
Malcolm, 52, disappeared back inside after telling the inspectors, “I’m going to do something now”.
Soon smoke was billowing from the property but firefighters were able to rescue Malcolm and the dogs.
The city’s sheriff court heard the incident happened soon after Malcolm’s partner had died from Covid-19 when he was drinking heavily.
Malcolm pled guilty at the court on Tuesday to a charge of wilful fireraising in the Pilton area last September 18.
He admitted setting ablaze domestic waste, causing a fire which endangered the safety and lives of himself, firefighters, other residents in his block of flats, and his dogs.
Fiscal depute Jennifer McLaren told the court how SSPCA inspectors visited his home at around 3pm seeking to perform welfare checks on the animals in Malcolm’s care.
She said the inspectors requested access to the home but Malcolm retreated and locked himself and the dogs inside.
The inspectors phoned Police Scotland as they were “concerned” over Malcolm.
Ms McLaren said smoke began “billowing” from the home a short time later and the inspectors called 999 for the fire service.
She said firefighters arrived “almost immediately” and started a rescue operation as they battled a “large amount of smoke”.
The blaze had been set in the living room at the rear, she added, and the firefighters put it out. Malcolm was found in the kitchen and later taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary as a “precaution”.
Malcolm’s defence agent Ms Lech said her client had been using alcohol to “mask the pain” following the death of his partner from coronavirus.
She said Malcolm, who now lives in the city’s Leith area, was in a “bad place” and has no recollection of the incident.
The solicitor acknowledged Malcolm’s actions were “appalling” but added he’d been suffering from poor health.
Sheriff Nigel Ross described the matter as “serious” and deferred sentence until next month for reports.
