A man has appeared in court after a blaze tore through a Glasgow tenement. Graeme Moxey, 48, appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday, September 14, charged with wilful fireraising. He did not enter a plea and was committed for further examination and remanded in custody.
Fire at Stonyhurst Street
The alarm was raised in Stonyhurst Street in the Possilpark area at around 4.50pm on Sunday, September 6. Firefighters battled the inferno in the empty building in the north of the city for two days. The property was being refurbished when it went up in flames.
Six fire engines and specialist resources were dispatched to the fire, which ripped through the fourth floor of the flat block. Footage taken from the scene showed flames tearing through the roof of the flats.
False rumours over asylum seekers
The building's renovation works had been subject to false rumours in the local area that it was to be used for asylum seekers, refugees or asylum seekers. The building had lain empty for 20 years, but funding had been allocated for a refurbishment which would bring it back into use for homes.
Local reaction and legal pledge
Local residents told how the fire spread at a rapid pace. One said: "The flats on Stonyhurst Street which were being refurbished are on fire. The fire looks serious as flames are soaring through the roof."
First Minister John Swinney vowed last week that "all the force of the law" would be applied if the tenement fire was deliberate.
