 | 'Sheriff Mackie said today that it was only the good safety equipment in the hotel and the swift action of the staff that stopped the fire running out of control. Around 100 guests were still in the nearby hotel bar when Watson started the blaze, which caused £4,500 of damage.' Sam Knight in the Times, 22 nd September 2005 |  |
Lord Watson of Invergowrie, the Scottish peer who drunkenly set a pair of curtains alight in a smart hotel, was today jailed for 16 months.
Watson was sentenced after pleading guilty last month to wilful fire-raising and endangering lives when he put a match to a curtain after drinking heavily at the Scottish Politician of the Year awards ceremony last year.
"I have to say that someone in public office ought to know how to conduct himself on all occasions," said Sheriff Kathrine Mackie as she sentenced Watson at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Mackie said that a custodial sentence was necessary for Watson because there were no mitigating factors for his crime and that a social inquiry had reported that he presented a "significant risk of re-offending".
"No explanation has been offered for your actions," said Sheriff Mackie.
"A large amount of alcohol appears to have been consumed but that neither excuses nor fully explains your behaviour. This is not an offence which was committed recklessly."
Lord Watson's political career ended last month when he confessed to the court that he had slipped into a deserted room at the Prestonfield Hotel on November 12 last year to set a curtain ablaze.
Closed-circuit television footage showed the kilted Watson, 56, inspecting the curtains with a lamp before crouching down and pulling a box of matches from his sporran. Once the curtain was alight, Watson left the room but returned soon afterwards to make sure the fire was progressing.
Sheriff Mackie said today that it was only the good safety equipment in the hotel and the swift action of the staff that stopped the fire running out of control. Around 100 guests were still in the nearby hotel bar when Watson started the blaze, which caused £4,500 of damage.
Watson's lawyer today said that alcohol was a problem for the peer, who has admitted drinking "more than was wise" on the night of the fire.
"The psychological report clearly indicates that alcohol had become problematic for him and it seems, I think, to suggest that like a lot of people he may, indeed he has, crossed the line that separates alcohol from recreation into problem," said Paul Burns, Watson's counsel.
Watson resigned from the Scottish Parliament and from the board of Dundee United football club after pleading guilty last month.
Completing his fall, the Scottish Labour Party, which suspended Watson during the trial, announced his expulsion from the party today.
In a statement, a Labour spokesman said: "Mr Watson has been expelled from the Labour Party. In addition, he has lost his seat in the Scottish Parliament, his career and his reputation and now having already paid a heavy price, he has been jailed."
Watson, who served in the House of Commons as MP for Glasgow Central and the Scottish Parliament as MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, was made a life baron by Tony Blair in 1997.
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