A SCOTTISH Tory councillor whose car and house were petrol bombed believes he and his family were targeted because of his involvement with a local planning case.
Councillor Graeme Campbell, who represents Avondale and Stonehouse in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, his wife Fiona and their 18-year-old son were asleep when the attack occurred in the early hours of Monday.
The family were alerted to the fire by a passing teenager who knocked on their door at around 1.15am after an explosion set Mrs Campbell’s car on fire.
The blaze burnt out the car, damaged another car and spread to the garage and a neighbour’s property.
Police Scotland are treating the incident as deliberate.
Mr Campbell told STV News that he believed his attackers were trying to kill him.
He said: “It’s shocking someone is trying to murder us.
“When someone bombs your car you know someone is basically trying to kill you.
“Another 15 minutes and we would have been dead if we hadn’t got the fire brigade, who were incredible.
“I’m totally disgusted because it could only have come from my work as a councillor.”
Cllr Campbell, who was elected to council in 2007 and then in 2017, claimed the attack was linked to his work as a politician, specifically a planning case he has been working on for 18 months.
He told the BBC: “I’ve got an idea that it’s linked to a case I’ve been involved in as a local councillor, a planning case for the last 18 months.
“Clearly they are trying to give me a message to shut up and take this
no further.”
Mr Campbell said his family “were glad to be alive”.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “At around 1.25am on Monday, police were called to a report of a car on fire outside a property in Fortrose Gardens, Strathaven.
“Emergency services attended and fire had caused extensive damage to the car, as well as another vehicle in the driveway and the garage.
“The incident is being treated as wilful and inquiries are ongoing.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman added: “We sent two appliances after a car was found on fire outside the house. We left the scene at 3.15am.”
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