A WOMAN has admitted setting fire to a Saltcoats flat and threatening police officers. 

Chelsea Pearson, 22, described in court papers as an inmate at HMP Greenock, pleaded guilty to two charges following the incident on Gladstone Road on August 16 last year.

She was charged with threatening or abusive behaviour, including shouting, swearing, threatening police officers, threatening to harm herself and to set fire to a property. 

She was also charged with brandishing a knife, spraying an aerosol can into a naked flame and throwing items including a kettle, aerosol can, tealights, a screwdriver, pieces of glass and a glass ornament, as well as jumping from a ledge to the ground.

A further charge states that she wilfully set fire to curtains and blinds within a flat and that the resulting blaze endangered other residents in the block as well as emergency services personnel.

Pearson's lawyer told Kilmarnock Sheriff Court that their client had a mental health background, and had previously been examined by psychologists

Sentencing was deferred for reports, and Pearson was remanded in custody.