Teenager admits setting fire to her flat

Bailed to appear again on 1 October

A Douglas teenager who expressed shock and surprise when she returned to her flat to find a fire had broken out was arrested when firefighters realised it had been started deliberately.

Nineteen-year-old Lisa Nicola Mcghee, of Ashbourne Avenue, admitted arson when she appeared before High Bailiff Jayne Hughes.

Prosecution advocate Rebecca Cubbon said Mcghee was living in a flat on Mona Street in Douglas when the blaze started on 26 May.

A resident taking a bin bag outside smelled burning plastic – and quickly discovered the fire in Mcghee’s apartment.

Other people living in the building raised the alarm and called the emergency services, also managing to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher.

When they saw Mcghee in a back lane, she denied having anything to do with it and said she couldn’t believe what had happened.

However, the Island’s Fire and Rescue Service quickly discovered it had been started intentionally and Mcghee was arrested by police.

She was granted bail in the sum of £500 and will next appear in court on 1 October.