by Craig Borland

A DRUMRY man who set fire to a display of newspapers at a petrol station on the A82 is making good progress with his community-based sentence, a court has been told.

Aiden Bentley was placed under social workers’ supervision for 18 months last October and told to carry out unpaid work as part of a community payback order (CPO).

Bentley, now 21, was seen by customers setting fire to the newspaper stand at the West Highways service station on Great Western Road in the early hours of November 14, 2015.

At the sentencing hearing in October, the court was told Bentley had paid a “not entirely harmonious” visit to the shop at the service station – and that though he soon left the premises, he was seen by customers acting in a strange way and then setting the newspaper stand alight.

Bentley, who was said to have an ambition to join the Army, returned to the scene once police arrived to investigate, and told the officers: “I think you’re looking for me.”

At the time of his sentencing Bentley, of Alsatian Avenue, was said by his solicitor to be studying industrial cleaning and to have secured a biohazards certificate. The presiding sheriff on that occasion, Maxwell Hendry, said Bentley’s actions at the petrol station “beggared belief”.

Bentley returned to court on Thursday for a review of the CPO, when his solicitor said: “The report is very positive in its terms. He seems to be progressing well.”

Sheriff Hendry said he would fix no further reviews of the order. He told Bentley: “You still have two-thirds of the order to complete. I’m going to assume you will continue to do as well as you have done. If the order is breached because of your non-compliance it is likely to be revoked. In that case I’m going to have to consider an alternative sentence, most likely custodial.”