‘Useful idiot’ who firebombed businesses in gang feud jailed
Logan Carlin could have put residents in ‘mortal danger’ when he attacked a beauty salon, a judge said.
A man described as a “useful idiot” who set fire to to businesses as part of a gang feud has been jailed for more than seven years.
Logan Carlin, 24, threw bottles filled with accelerant into two properties in Edinburgh in March last year as part of an effort to intimidate a rival gang.
He first targeted a beauty salon on Albert Street on March 6 before going on to set fire to a garage on Milton Road East.
The Belle Chevaux beauty salon is thought to have been the first to be targeted with such an attack in a feud between rival gangs, which saw a number of incidents in the east and west of Scotland.
Carlin targeted DB Auto Services 10 days after the beauty salon attack.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told that the beauty salon was part-owned by someone connected to an organised crime group and the attack could have put nearby residents in “mortal danger”.
Carlin, who appeared by video link on Monday, had earlier admitted two charges of wilful fireraising.
His defence lawyer, Andrew Crosbie, said his client came from a “supportive” family and recognised that he had made poor choices during March last year.
Mr Crosbie said Carlin “seems to have been something of a useful idiot” compared to better-connected members of the gang.
The lawyer said: “It’s an archetypical case of someone who has sadly made very poor decisions over a short period of time.”
He said his client recognised the need to take responsibility for his actions.
Issuing his sentence, Lord Summers said the crimes were aggravated by Carlin’s links to organised crime.
The beauty salon was “part-owned by a person with links to a serious organised crime group”, the judge said.
He said: “The purpose of your attack was to intimidate rivals.”
The judge noted that there were residential flats in the same building as the beauty salon, saying: “Had that fire taken hold, the residents of the property above would have been in mortal danger.”
The second property was also owned by someone with links to serious organised crime, the judge said.
Carlin’s attack caused “significant damage” to the property, he said.
Lord Summers said he took into account the legislation on serious organised crime, as well as the youth sentencing guidelines as Carlin was 23 at the time of the offences and is still under 25.
He imposed a sentence of seven years and four months, backdated to April 8 2025.
Carlin’s arrest was part of Police Scotland’s Operation Portaledge, which is investigating gang activity and violent incidents which have taken place in the east and west of the country.
