Petrol bombing schoolboy detained

A schoolboy who attempted to petrol bomb council buildings in his bid for Scottish separatism has been detained for six months.

Jamie Hoggan, 16, tried to start a blaze at the Clackmannanshire Council offices in Alloa last August.

He was sentenced at Alloa Sheriff Court to six months in a young offenders' institution after he was found guilty of wilful fire-raising.

The teenager had maintained he did not take part in the attack.

Last month, Sheriff David Mackie said he would defer sentence to allow Hoggan to own up to what he had done.

The teenager claimed he was part of a group called the Scottish Freedom Force.

Upon hearing that Hoggan would still not admit committing the crime despite being found guilty by a jury, Sheriff Mackie said he had no alternative but to impose the custodial sentence, despite Hoggan's age.

Hoggan and his friend tried to firebomb Greenfield House by throwing bottles of petrol stuffed with lighted cloth at the Victorian mansion but only succeeded in setting fire to some shrubs near the building.

No-one was injured in the incident.

Hoggan's 15-year-old friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was discharged after admitting the offence and turned chief witness against his former accomplice.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/4780155.stm