Justice for torched snack van owner

Published 7 Jul 2010 15:00

A REMORSELESS cafe owner - who tried to burn out his rival - has been put out of business, the Post can reveal.

David Barclay, 63, was caught red-handed when he torched Linda Cunningham's snack van in January.

He later said it was because he felt Linda was undercutting him with her prices at her popular pitch.

There was further was outrage in the Clydebank community when Barclay's only punishment was a community service order and he was able to carry on trading.

But Barclay - who was not even fined or ordered to pay compensation - has reportedly suffered months of slow trade at the Dalmuir roll shop on Dumbarton Road and is giving up the business.

This week Linda - who lost thousands of pounds due to the fire attack - said "justice" had finally been done.

By shunning the Dave's Place cafe, the public has done what the courts did not and effectively ensured Barclay did not "get away" with his ruthless crime.

Linda, whose van Souper Snax is only a mile down the road, is pleased he is moving on as she found it difficult to re-start her business knowing that he was still trading only a short distance away.

She said: "I'm pleased he's not going to be there any more, although I am still wary of him.

"It is justice, which is something I felt I hadn't got.

"What he did has all sorts of knock on effects - it makes it more difficult for me to get my van insured.

"All sorts of people, some I hadn't even met before, came up to me after they found out what he'd done and said it was disgusting.

"People aren't going to put up with that."

Other Dalmuir business owners say Barclay's cafe noticeably went dead after details of his attack on Linda's van were published in the Post.

One said: "He hadn't been getting any business.

"I think people thought that he'd got away with it and that really annoyed them.

"It's not surprising that he's closed his shop."

Barclay is still living in the Dalmuir area at present.

A new tenant has been found for Dave's Place which will be opening up under a new name in the next few weeks.

The Post understands it will be remaining a cafe.

Barclay declined an opportunity to comment.

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This article appeared in Clydebank Post 07 Jul 10

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