Watch as former soldier hurls Molotov cocktails at police vans in Livingston
A shocking video capturing the moment a former soldier hurled Molotov cocktails at a West Lothian police station shows just how close an officer came to serious injury.
Jamie Taylor, a British Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, carried out the attack on May 30 last year at Livingston Police Station.
In the video Taylor can be seen igniting Molotov cocktails outside Livingston police station before hurling them towards the building. The first bounces off a police van and then bursts into flames on the ground.
He then throws a second petrol bomb as a police officer emerges from the station with a fire extinguisher. The officer then makes attempts to extinguish the fires before Taylor launches a third Molotov cocktail which lands inches away from the officer.
Taylor was sentenced at the High Court in Stirling on Tuesday, January 13 to three years and six months in prison, with a 12-month supervision order imposed. He previously admitted two charges relating to explosive substances and endangering life, and culpable and wilful conduct in November.
The court heard how Taylor, 34, suffers from complex post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Judge Lady Ross said: “You were a soldier for eight years and experienced serious trauma… You have complex PTSD. You understand what you did was wrong.
“You have made progress in prison and have the support of your mother. The seriousness of offending means there is no alternative to custody. It is very plain you need help, you need supervision and sustained care.”