Arson Attack leaves family business devastated
Shotts man, wife and grandson flee damaging blaze
Arsonists target taxis in Shotts
A well-known taxi driver, his wife and their young grandson had to flee for their lives after a second arson attack on his business in Shotts.
As police launched a manhunt this week, defiant Billy Adam says those responsible won’t force him out.
Mr Adam, 64, and his family members narrowly escaped during the horrifying incident in the early hours of Thursday morning – but only because his wife Margaret was wakened by an exploding tyre.
He has since handed over chilling CCTV footage to police showing a pair of hooded thugs pouring petrol on his Ford Mondeo and Galaxy taxis and Margaret’s 10 month-old Vauxhall Astra and torching them before fleeing during the 2am drama.
The fact the sole fire engine based at Shotts had been called out to a blaze at the nearby abattoir shortly before the incident meant Billy and a neighbour had to fearlessly fight the flames for half an hour armed with only their garden hoses before a tender from Coatbridge could make it to the scene of the fire at Dyfrig Street.
“I have absolutely no idea why someone is doing this,” a shaken but defiant Mr Adam told us this week.
“I put up cameras after the first arson attack two weeks ago, although it was nothing compared to the latest one. That time, looking at the car, you wouldn’t even know there was anything wrong with it because it was dealt with quickly. This time both taxis and my wife’s own car were completely burned out.
“The place was a hell of a mess but really we’re just lucky to be alive. It looks like the abattoir was set alight first as a decoy to draw the firemen away. If so, their plan worked.
“I had actually fallen asleep in a chair in the living room and my wife and my grandson, who is eight, were asleep in bedrooms above the garage. The cars were parked in the street below them.
“My wife was wakened by a bang coming from outside, which looks like it was one of the tyres exploding and raced through to wake me up.
“On the CCTV footage you can actually see the two guys coming up the drive, pouring petrol down the vents between the wipers and the grilles where the washers are and setting them alight. That’s at 2.36am, and at 2.37am you can see me running out of the door.
“I got the hose on and started trying to keep things under control and got my neighbour to do the same, as his own cars and home were in danger too. His fence was set alight.
“The problem we had was waiting for the guys from Coatbridge to attend compared to four minutes for the crew from Shotts the last time, but of course they did a great job when they got here.”
Mr Adam, who is 64 and has been in business as a taxi driver with his own private hire company for 10 years, says the support he has had from the Shotts community has been unbelievable.
“I’ve had all sorts of calls and messages locally and from as far away as a regular customer in the Middle East who uses us when he’s at home and I want to thank everybody for that,” he said.
“I’ve never had a cross word with anyone in the whole time I’ve been operating, so I’ve no idea what all this is about. Obviously it’s very worrying when it gets to this level, with lives being endangered.
“I can’t continue in business until the insurance comes through but they won’t get me down. I have the community supprt and I’ll carry on.”
The police say they are also relying on the community – to hand over the perpetrators.
“I am appealing to the people of this area to pull together and identify those responsible,” Inspector Alistair Anderson said.
“Three cars have been deliberately set alight and lives put at risk. The family were able to respond to a very frightening situation. But what if things had been different, with heavy sleepers or sleeping pills involved?
“Somebody knows who did this. Somebody knows two young men who came home in the early hours smelling of petrol.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service at Shotts said their crews were in attendance at the two incidents for 13 hours to ensure both scenes were safe. Fire engines from Shotts, Carluke and Whitburn all attended the abattoir fire.
“The crews were relieved in the morning and left in the afternoon and police are now carrying out a full investigation,” he added.
If you have any information about either arson attack, please contact the police on the non-emergency number 101 or via Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/in-your-ar ... ss-3911051
