Engineer accused of CCTV thefts at Perth fire tragedy hotel tells police of squalid conditions

A security engineer accused of stealing CCTV cameras from a Perth hotel in which people died as it burned says he was forced to halt work at the building due to its dangerous and unhygienic condition.

Jamie Grierson described the squalid state at the New County Hotel before it was hit by a tragic blaze that claimed the lives of three people.

The 37-year-old told police of electrical cables hanging from ceilings, rooms filled with rubbish bags and a workforce including drunks and drug-users.

“A night porter made me aware there was all kinds of stuff going on there that I didn’t want to be part of,” he said.

Grierson, 37, had been tasked with replacing and installing security cameras at the three-storey establishment before the tragedy on January 2 2023.

Fire swept through the city centre block and claimed the lives of sisters Donna Janse Van Rensburg, 44, and Sharon McLean, 47, from Aberdeen, and Edinburgh man Keith Russell, 38.

Grierson is accused of stealing the cameras from the building weeks later, on February 14 and 15, when the building was under the control of police.

He denies the charges.

He told police he had a “really stupid” idea to return to Perth and get his cameras back after the hotel’s owner never paid for them.

Fly infestation

On the second day of the trial – which began in August –  Perth Sheriff Court was shown a recording of a police interview following Grierson’s arrest on suspicion of theft and housebreaking.

Police were told he worked with sub-contractors to install about 15 cameras at the hotel.

“We were in rooms downstairs and it became apparent they weren’t the most hygienic,” Grierson said.

“There was rooms full of rubbish bags, there was junk everywhere.

“You couldn’t walk anywhere without breathing in flies.”

Grierson told police there were “electrical cables hanging loose everywhere.”

He said: “I explained to the owner that due to the state of the hotel, we couldn’t do any more work until it was cleaned and rectified.”

The men downed tools after fitting eight of the cameras.

Grierson said he spoke to a member of staff about tidying up the building.

“I genuinely think the guy was drunk, I could smell alcohol on him.”

He described a female employee as a “user or a junkie, if you like.”

“She had people coming back and forth at night,” he said.

‘It was a hell hole’

Grierson said he asked the hotel’s owner to pay him for the work already undertaken.

In his police interview, he said: “I made the owner aware I was planning on taking my material back because he never paid me.

“He refused to comply, he pretty much said I could do what I wanted.”

The trial previously heard from Grierson’s ex-girlfriend Lia Payne, who had been in a relationship with him at the time of the alleged thefts.

She said: “He was telling me about all the problems there.

“He showed me photos of rats, it was a hell hole.

“He talked about junkies and prostitutes coming in through the back door.”

Grierson, of Denfield Avenue, Dundonald, Cardenden, denies stealing an external camera from the hotel on February 14 2023.

He further denies breaking into the building the following day and stealing several internal cameras.

The trial before Sheriff Clair McLachlan continues next month.

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