Blantyre cafe gutted after arson attack

Feb 4 2010 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A CAFE owner is offering a £1000 reward for information leading to a conviction for those who raided and torched his premises last weekend.

Bryan Baird’s premises, the Estate Cafe, was robbed, trashed and set alight after being broken into between Sunday night and the early hours of Monday morning.

The raiders then set the storeroom alight and caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage.

Mr Baird and his daughter Leanne Lyons, who works at the Estate with her father, now expect the cafe to be closed for at least eight weeks to repair the extensive damage to the interior.

Mr Baird said: “I’m obviously absolutely gutted about the whole thing. This has been my livelihood for 10 years.

“The cafe will be fully refurbished and re-opened, but that is going to take time and a lot of money.

“It wouldn’t be printable what I would say to the people who did this. The main thing is that no-one was injured, however.

“It’s going to be strange not doing what I have been used to [doing] every morning for the last 10 years, but I will endure to get the cafe back open as quickly as possible.

“I’m also offering £1000 to anyone who has information that can help the police with the prosecution of the person responsible.”

Twenty-nine-year-old Leanne discovered the wrecked cafe when she arrived to open for work on Monday morning at around 7am.

She said: “I saw that the padlock to the shutters was gone. When I opened the door thick smoke just came pouring out. The place was just black with smoke.

“The people responsible had pulled food out of the fridge and trashed the games machine. They made sure there was nothing left.

“They then set fire to something in the back store, and that smouldered all night and damaged all of our fridges, which melted from the heat of the flames.

“We’re devastated, and there is no way we can open the cafe like this. It’s destroyed.”

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police confirmed this week that enquiries are ongoing into the wilful fire-raising, which will include the study of CCTV footage.

A police spokesman told the Advertiser that the incident happened between the hours of 2pm on Sunday, January 31, and 7.30am on Monday, February1.

She said: “The padlock for the rear door of the property was burst open, and the person responsible entered and left via this door.

“Several items were stolen during the incident, including a money float worth £60 and a cash box from a games machine.”

The suspect then wilfully set fire to items, which police believe to be paper, in the rear storage room, causing extensive fire and smoke damage in the cafe.

The spokesman said that no accelerant had been used to ignite the fire, adding: “The fire brigade attended the scene on Monday morning and made the area safe, before police officers arrived to investigate.

“Our enquiries are ongoing.”

l Anyone with information about the fire should contact Blantyre Police Office on 202501, or alternatively call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.