A TEENAGER has told a court he fled from a school after watching his friend start a fire which caused more than £850,000 of damage.
The blaze at Lasswade High School in Bonnyrigg in November 2006 destroyed the science department, art departments and a staff office.
Months' of senior pupils coursework was destroyed and it took 18 months to repair the building.
Stephen Ruther
ford, 18, went on trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today accused of wilfully setting fire to paper within the science room and causing the blaze.
Rutherford, of Andy Kelly View, Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, denies the allegations and has blamed 17-year-old Michael Connolly for starting the fire.
The jury was shown CCTV footage of three people entering and leaving the school in Eskdale Drive shortly before fire crews were called around 2.35am on 4 November, 2006.
Former Lasswade High School pupil Michael Connolly, who was 15 at the time, said he entered the school that night with Rutherford and another youth, Calum Stewart, using a staff key card.
He said they had been walking around the streets and were "bored" and
went to the school for "a look around."
Once inside, Rutherford used a cigarette lighter to set fire to papers on a table inside the science department staff office, he said.
"Stephen was lighting a lighter against a rack of paper," said Mr Connolly.
"As soon as he started lighting it, I grabbed Calum and says 'I'm out of here' and I ran out of the building."
Mr Connolly told the court he ran out with Mr Stewart, who activated the fire alarm, and were followed by Rutherford a short time later.
All three then used a drainpipe to climb onto the roof of the school, where Mr Connolly hid for six hours after the other two were arrested by police.
When questioned by police at home later that day he admitted taking chalk, CDs and candles from the school which were found on the roof.
He told the court he could not explain why a paraffin bottle was found alongside the items and denied it was him who had started the fire.
"If it was me I would admit it," said Mr Connolly.
Forensic scientist Craig McKenzie, who investigated the blaze, said he believed the fire had been started deliberately, but admitted he had been unable to fully excavate the school because of asbestos.
"In my opinion the fact that there were intruders in the building at the time of the fire has led me to that conclusion," said Mr McKenzie.
"In my opinion there was deliberate ignition."
Mr McKenzie admitted there had been no other obvious signs of a deliberate fire apart from the presence of the intruders.
And he said he "couldn't rule out" the possibility the fire had started accidentally from an electrical fault.
Three months' of coursework belonging to standard grade, higher and advanced higher pupils, along with science jotters, equipment, personal possessions and resources were all destroyed in the blaze.
The cost of repairs was £866,148 and the repairs took a year and a half to complete.
Rutherford is also accused of setting fire to paper and rubbish against a wall at the school ten months later, in September 2007, damaging the wall and a drainpipe but denies the allegations.
The trial, before Sheriff Nigel Morrison QC, continues.
