A thug who set fire to a man’s clothing and another male’s rucksack in Stirling streets has been jailed for a year and six months.
Kevin Kelly appeared for sentence at Stirling Sheriff Court earlier this month after admitting two charges of wilful fireraising, two charges of assault and a charge of threatening behaviour.
One wilful fireraising offence occurred in the city’s Abbey Road on August 11 last year and the other at Gowanhill, Lower Bridge Street, the following day.
The clothing of the witness in the Abbey Road incident was damaged as well as the rucksack and contents of the witness in the Gowanhill attack.
An assault carried out by Kelly at Gowanhill on August 12 last year on the man with the rucksack involved him throwing a bottle at the man, kicking him and attempting to kick him on the head.
Twenty-five-year-old Kelly - at Laurencecroft Road on August 11 - had put a ring with a pointed spike on his hand and threatened two other men with violence.
Kelly had also attacked a man in Tillicoultry’s Ann Street on April 19, 2022, by punching him on the head to his injury.
His agent Frazer McCready told Sheriff Derek Hamilton that his client - who had been in custody since August 15 - expected to receive a custodial sentence.
He insisted that when sober Kelly was a “decent individual” adding: “The problem is he cannot stay off drugs.”
Mr McCready added that Kelly would have to move premises on his release from prison and distance himself from his peer group.
The lawyer said: “He is remorseful. It is genuine. He did the right thing by pleading early.”
Sheriff Hamilton told Kelly: “For someone still very young I’m concerned about your record.
“Much of it involves violence and violence with weapons.
“I’m concerned something quite tragic will take place at some stage given your use of weapons. There is no alternative to a custodial sentence.
“If you continue offending by using violence it is likely that any further cases will be on indictment rather than summary complaint.”
Sheriff Hamilton ordered that Kelly, whose address was given as Low Moss Prison, be returned to prison on the Tillicoultry assault charge for a period of 451 days.
He was also sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment - consecutively - to the S16 return to prison order and a further eight months’ imprisonment on the August 11 and 12 charges of wilful fireraising, threatening behaviour and assault.
The court however modified this 16 months’ prison term - on account of the early pleas and the time already spent in custody - to three months, which was consecutive to the 451 days.
