Father-of-two nearly run over as thief steals his van from Liberton driveway

Engineer tells of his near miss horror in middle of the afternoon.

Kevin and Kirsten are appealing for help to find their van

A CALLOUS car thief nearly ran over an engineer while stealing his van from a Liberton driveway as he packed up from a job.

Self-employed Kevin McGlynn was loading up at 4pm yesterday in Claverhouse Drive when he spotted a man leaping into his Transit.

Spotting his jacket missing, quick-thinking Kevin tried to get in front of the van but had to leap out of the way as the lout sped off.

Have you seen the stolen Transit since yesterday afternoon?

“He was in shock and he tried to stop him,”said concerned partner Kirsten Craig, 27. “But the guy was ready to run him over so he stepped back and let him go.

“I’m quite glad he let it go otherwise it could’ve been a lot worse.”

As he raced off in the £12,000 van, the thief barely avoided neighbours’ cars as he made his getaway.

The couple are now appealing for help in trying to trace the distinctive silver van - registration YM15UMD - with orange Heatworks Scotland lettering on the side.

Both the loss of the van and the £1,000 worth of tools in the back have hit Kevin’s business hard.

“I’m annoyed with myself but it’s hard to predict these things,” said father-of-two Kevin, 32.

Police Scotland has been approached for comment.