Man who told 999 workers 'good luck' after trying to set woman on fire jailed for nine years

A man who told 999 workers “good luck” when they tried to rescue a terrified woman he tried to set on fire has been jailed for nine years.

Ian McIntyre, 40, sprayed his victim from head to toe with lighter fluid at a property in Aberdeenshire on December 19, 2024.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how McIntyre told his victim that he wanted to set her alight and began sparking a lighter towards her leg during the life endangering attack at an old Aberdeenshire farmhouse.

He then told the police about what he had done and said: ‘Good luck in getting here on time.”

When police responded to the 999 call, McIntyre sprayed the flammable fluid towards two constables before firearms officers arrived and removed him from the property.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that as he was being taken to a custody suite at an Aberdeen police station, McIntyre said: “I pay £1,000 a month for that house. I just went berserk and thought I’ll set it ablaze.”

At the time of the offence, McIntyre was subject to a non harassment order banning him from approaching or contacting the assault victim.

McIntyre, formerly of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to assaulting the woman to the danger of her life on December 20 last year at the old farmhouse at Auchmacoy, in Aberdeenshire, by spraying lighter fluid on her body, repeatedly making threats of violence and brandishing a lighter at her and sparking it.

He also pled guilty to breaching the non harassment order while on bail.

McIntyre, formerly of Ellon, in Aberdeenshire, also admitted assaulting two PCs by spraying the flammable fluid towards them.

On that occasion, judge Lord Arthurson deferred sentence for the court to obtain reports on McIntyre’s background. He wanted to know if McIntyre met the criteria for an order of life long restriction – an effective life sentence which means that people who receive the punishment are only released once the parole board no longer consider them a threat to public safety.

On Tuesday, the case called for sentencing before Lord Arthurson in Edinburgh.

Passing sentence, Lord Arthurson said he concluded that McIntyre did not meet the criteria to impose an order for lifelong restriction.

He added: “This is accordingly a borderline decision. The question for the court to ask and seek to answer on all of the relevant information before it becomes this: can you properly be located within that cohort of exceptional offenders for whom an order for lifelong restriction is the only appropriate disposal.

“On balance, and with some reluctance, I have determined not to impose an Order for Lifelong Restriction on this occasion, for the following reasons: first, you have not previously been made the subject of an extended sentence, let alone the robust and high tariff one which I will be imposing upon you today, and, second, that in assessing you as medium risk the RMA risk assessor has reported that you have presented with some capacity and willingness to engage, and she has recommended that measures less than lifelong restriction should be considered in your case in order to manage the serious and harmful level of risk which is assessed to be posed by you to the public at large.”

He also said: “Turning now to disposal, it is clear that the nature and gravity of your offending in the present case requires the imposition of an immediate and very substantial custodial sentence.

“You subjected your victim in this case to an appalling ordeal. You had on one view of events commenced the process of setting her on fire.

“The key characteristics underpinning your risk relate primarily to your problems with emotional regulation, impulsivity, anger, a callous disregard for the rights of others, self-entitlement and entrenched derogatory attitudes towards females.

“You present with impairments in all aspects of your psychological functioning.

“Having considered the facts of this case carefully, as I am entitled and indeed require to do, I infer in the whole circumstances that your intention was indeed to set her on fire.

“In the event, you compounded matters by assaulting two police officers in the manner already described. In addition, you have a dreadful record of directly relevant and plainly escalating offending.”

At proceedings last year, prosecutor Graeme Jessop KC told the court that McIntyre turned up at the farmhouse on the morning of December 19 last year and the woman let him in to chat and watch TV.

The prosecutor said that initially there were no difficulties but they began drinking and in the evening McIntyre became agitated and brought up previous incidents which were reported to the police.

In the early hours of December 20, the woman contacted the police but did not speak during the call which was terminated.

Mr Jessop said: “Due to the prior domestic history, police officers attended to carry out a ‘safe and well’ check. When they arrived they were unaware that McIntyre was hiding in the back garden. No complaint was made to them and they left the farmhouse.

The prosecutor said: “Once the police had left the scene the complainer returned to the living room to find the accused standing in the middle of the room holding a bottle of lighter fluid. The bottle was usually kept beside the wood burning stove.”

“The accused aimed the bottle at the complainer and sprayed her with lighter fluid from ‘head to toe’. He told the complainer he wanted to set her alight, bent down and began to spark a lighter towards her leg,” he said

Mr Jessop said: “This caused the complainer to back into the corner of the room as the accused continued to shout and swear at her and threatened to set her on fire. The complainer was terrified to move.”

McIntyre made a 999 call to emergency services and during it said “good luck in getting here on time” and “I’ve done it”. The distressed victim was heard in the background and McIntyre told her: “You f****d this by calling the police”.

During the call he said: “If anyone turns up here the whole house is going up. I’ve nothing to lose.”

The woman managed to flee from the farmhouse and when police arrived, they found her hiding behind a car in a distressed state.

Two police constables tried to speak to McIntyre but he continued to behave aggressively. When one PC opened the back door, McIntyre sprayed lighter fluid at him before opening a window and attempting to spray another PC with the fuel.

On Tuesday, defence advocate Neil Beardmore told the court that McIntyre appreciated the seriousness of his conduct.

He added: “He expresses his remorse.”

Mr Beardmore also told the court that the circumstances of the offence were such that the criteria for an Order for Lifelong Restriction were not met.

Lord Arthurson also told McIntyre that he’d be supervised by the authorities for six years following his release from custody.

He also told McIntyre that he couldn’t contact his victim ever again.

He added: “Finally, on unopposed Crown motion, the court additionally makes a non-harassment order in respect of the complainer named in charge two.

“You will not in any circumstances approach or contact her, nor will you attempt to do so, directly or indirectly and in any way whatsoever, all for an indefinite period”