A firebug started a blaze at a McDonalds just a week after finishing a jail sentence for similar crimes.

Alan Beck set a towel alight after placing an order and calmly left with his food as the flames took hold. The 45-year-old has a string of convictions and has been sentenced to 16 years in prison since 2009 for fire attacks.

In the latest case at Hamilton Sheriff Court, he admitted wilful fire-raising at McDonalds on Glasgow Road, Wishaw, on May 8. It happened around 11.30pm and there were six staff members and four customers present at the time, reports Lanarkshire Live.

Beck was seen on CCTV to go into a corridor near the staff kitchen and use his lighter to ignite a towel he'd picked up after ordering food.

Robbie McDougall, prosecuting, said: "The accused obtained his food fr

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