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July 28, 2005updated 22 Nov 2022 4:17pm

Peer accused of ‘fire-raising’

By Press Gazette

Scottish
Labour peer and MSP Mike Watson is to stand trial on a charge of wilful
fire-raising at a luxury Scottish hotel following a prestigious media
event.

Lord Watson, 56, has been served with an indictment
following a fire at the five-star Prestonfield House Hotel, Edinburgh,
on 12 September last year after The Herald’s Scottish Politician of the
Year Awards dinner when curtains were found on fire in the early hours
of the morning.

The peer will appear at a preliminary hearing at
Edinburgh Sheriff Court on 23 August and the trial is scheduled to
begin on 5 September.

Watson has been suspended from the Labour Party pending the outcome of the legal process.

The former Labour MP for Glasgow Central is MSP for Glasgow Cathcart.

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