Police station petrol bomber from Bo'ness back in jail after offending again following early release

Jamie Taylor, 35, was recalled to prison on Thursday after he admitted arming himself with a knife and drunkenly trying to rob a neighbour of cannabis shortly after being released on licence.

Taylor, from Bo'ness, is due to be sentenced for the new offence at Falkirk Sheriff Court on November 11.

He appeared before judge Lady Ross at the High Court in Livingston on Thursday for breaching the terms of his prison parole by committing another offence.

She said that because the new crime had been committed very, very quickly after Taylor had been released on licence it was appropriate to return him into custody.

She told him: “I remember very clearly the circumstances that were explained to me when you were in the High Court, I think it was in Stirling earlier this year, when I imposed a sentence for 3 years and 6 months, and what would follow from that would be a supervised release order.

“I'm really, really disappointed that you find yourself here now. It's more than disappointment, it's terrible that very quickly after your release, you should have done what you did.

“I've seen what's been said about how that's happened and where it's happened and when it's happened. All of that, I've seen from the sheriff, because you've already appeared in the sheriff court in relation to this.

“But the reason that it's come back here is because you've committed this offence whilst you were subject to a sentence that I imposed in the High Court earlier this year, so it's important for me to think about whether you need to be returned to prison as a result of that.

“There's a couple of things I'm thinking about here. One is that this is a really serious offence that you've committed with a knife looking for cannabis.

“It causes me real concern that it's happened as quickly as it has, and what also concerns me is the risk that that means. I have to think about the risk that you might do something like this again.

“At the same time, I'm also looking at what it is that's contributing to that risk and I see very clearly, from everything that's been put in front of me, that a lot of this is to do with your mental health, with the way that you see things.

“And it's not helped by taking to alcohol as soon as you got out of prison. That was a really, really bad move, but it's also very clear to me that what you really need is support with your mental health.”

She said that although Taylor had been getting some mental health support in prison she advised him to register with a GP as quickly as possible following his release from custody to allow that support to continue.

She went on: “ I'm going to put this in writing, or at least summarise it in writing, so that the sheriff next week, who's sentencing you, is aware of the thinking that's lying behind what I'm about to do today.

“I do think it's necessary for me to impose an order, which means that you will be returned to custody in respect of the sentence which I imposed earlier.

“Now, because it happened so quickly, the total time would be 881 days. That would be all the way to the full extent of your sentence, but I think that's too much because of the unusual circumstances that I've been told about.

“I'm also aware that there's things that the sheriff needs to think about so I'm going to impose really quite a short period of time for your return to custody. I'm going to make that 90 days – about three months.

“I'm going to order that any sentence that the sheriff might choose to impose—and that will be a matter for his discretion – will follow on from, and will be consecutive to the expiry of that period that I'm imposing, but that will all be a matter for the sheriff.

“You'll be aware – because the sheriff will make you aware – that if you're released on licence again and this happens again, that's going to be even worse.

“It's so important, Mr. Taylor, that you recognise that you have to get help and you have to take it seriously as soon as you can.”

Taylor was originally sentenced for throwing three Molotov cocktails at police vans parked outside Livingston police station on May 30, 2025.

CCTV footage showed the bombs bursting on the ground, with one narrowly missing a female police officer who had run outside to tackle the flames with a fire extinguisher.

Taylor's third petrol bomb burst at her feet before she ran from the scene.

Her colleagues chased Taylor who was caught nearby a short while later lying on the ground next to a bush smelling strongly of fuel.

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

Defence counsel Iain McSporran KC said at the time that his client had serious mental health issues which were partly associated with his former army career.