A COUNTY man set fire to a car in a revenge attack after his friend had his picture taken while giving evidence during a High Court trial.

David Clelland, 39, torched the vehicle belonging to Dawn Reilly, who had photographed his friend Rhys Reynolds during an attempted murder trial.

Reilly was then arrested after posting the photograph on her Facebook page and labelling Reynolds “a grass” in August last year.

And just days later, Clelland claimed he was paid £200 to set her car ablaze while it was parked outside her home in Prestonpans.

The vehicle belonging to the mum-of-six was completely destroyed and Clelland was later identified from nearby CCTV footage following the arson attack at about 1am on August 19 last year.

Clelland appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in October to admit wilfully setting fire to the car and he was back in the dock for sentencing yesterday (Thursday).

Lawyer Angela Craig said that Clelland, of High Street, Cockenzie, had “struggled with substance abuse” for a number of years and had “recently apologised to the owner of the vehicle” for setting it ablaze.

Sheriff John Mundy spared Clelland a jail sentence and instead placed him on 12 months of supervision and told him he must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

Previously, the court was told that Reilly, 42, parked her car “undamaged and secured” outside her home in Prestonpans on August 14 last year.

Fiscal depute Anna Robertson said that Reilly was then arrested and remanded for seven days for taking the image of Reynolds during her son Kane Reilly’s High Court trial and posting it on Facebook.

Ms Robertson said the fire service was subsequently informed that the vehicle was on fire at about 1.15am on August 19.

Police searched local CCTV footage and Clelland was identified due to his distinctive trainers and he was arrested at his home two weeks later.

Ms Robertson said that Clelland made no reply but when he was later arrested on another matter two days later, he stated “I set fire to Dawn Reilly’s car” and claimed “Rhys Reynolds paid me £200 for it”.

The fiscal added: “He was extremely forthcoming about why he set fire to the vehicle.”

Clelland pleaded guilty to wilfully setting fire to a vehicle whereby the vehicle was completely destroyed at Grange Crescent West, Prestonpans, on August 19 last year.

Grandmother Dawn Reilly escaped a jail sentence for taking the High Court picture in August last year and was instead handed a 200-hour unpaid work order and placed on supervision for two years.

Kane Reilly, 18, and five other men were convicted of attempting to murder and assaulting Rhys Reynolds during the horror attack in Musselburgh on December 31, 2018.

The gang repeatedly punched, kicked and stamped on Reynolds before one of the attackers dropped a rock or a slab on his head as he lay injured at the town’s Delta Drive.

Reynolds suffered 36 separate injuries, including facial fractures and bleeding on the brain.

The six attackers were originally jailed for a total of 47 years in September last year but all had their jail terms reduced on appeal.

Kane Reilly is currently serving six years for his part in the Hogmanay attack.