Former soldier jailed for petrol bomb attack on police station

A former solider has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail for a petrol bomb attack on a police station, in which a police officer's life was endangered.

Jamie Taylor, 34, from Bo'ness, admitted throwing three molotov cocktails at police vans parked outside Livingston police station on 30 May 2025.

CCTV footage showed the bombs burst on the ground, with one narrowly missing PC Kirsty Forsyth who ran outside to tackle the flames with a fire extinguisher.

At the High Court in Stirling, judge Lady Ross told Taylor his actions were "obviously dangerous and criminally stupid".

CCTV cameras near the police station captured the moment a hooded Taylor started throwing the petrol bombs.

Lady Ross, who watched the footage, said it brought home the "shocking and frightening nature" of the incident.

In November, the High Court in Edinburgh saw footage of Forsyth come out of the station with a fire extinguisher. Taylor's third petrol bomb burst at her feet before she ran from the scene.

Forsyth's colleagues chased Taylor who was caught nearby a short while later.

The court heard he was found lying on the ground next to a bush smelling strongly of fuel.

Defence solicitor advocate Iain McSporran KC said his client had serious mental health issues which were partly associated with his former army career.

McSporran also praised PC Forsyth's actions.

Lady Ross told Taylor: "You had some ill-formed and ill-founded sense of grievance against the police.

"But 'the police' is not some faceless organisation, it's made up of brave and responsible woman and men, by PC Forsyth and PC Henderson who were running towards danger."

Taylor, who had eight previous convictions, pleaded guilty in November to causing explosions likely to endanger life, and culpably and recklessly throwing a petrol bomb towards Forsyth, where it exploded to the danger of her life.

Lady Ross told Taylor that in addition to the jail sentence, he would be subject to 12 months' social work supervision on his release.

Insp Lindsey McIntyre, of Police Scotland, said Taylor had endangered the lives of all officers and staff in the station.

She said: "Thankfully, no one was injured, but the outcome of the incident could have been far worse.

"Every officer has the fundamental right to come home from each shift unharmed, and no one should be targeted in this way."