Drug addict caught in act of robbery

A MAN who subjected a Chinese restaurant owner to a terrifying robbery ordeal has been jailed.

Heroin addict David Thomson, 36, was caught red handed as he attacked the woman in a car park in a bid to grab the day's takings.

He and an unidentified accomplice pushed her to the ground and tried to steal her handbag and carrier bags containing cash and till receipts.

But a police officer on patrol spotted the struggle and chased Thomson, who had run off with just the till receipts, Livingston Sheriff Court heard.

Jane Hilditch, prosecuting, said the other man had jumped a fence and escaped.

But Thomson was caught by the police officer. The accused was clutching the bag of till receipts.

Thomson, whose address was given as HMP Edinburgh, pleaded guilty on indictment to assaulting and robbing Jei Li in Whitburn, West Lothian, on November 1 last year.

Jailing Thomson for nine months, Sheriff Celia Sanderson told him: "This assault was serious."