Man drovestands away,court is told

A MAN has gone on trial accused of stealing two seating stands worth £100,000 intended for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Colin Jackson, 39, denies stealing the custom-built steel structures from a construction yard in Livingston, West Lothian.

The units – each more than 45 feet long – were part of a grandstand designed to give spectators a better view at the Tattoo. The stand sections were being fitted with seating brackets at the yard before being installed for the 2011 event.

A jury at Livingston Sheriff Court heard yesterday that road policing officers filmed lorries hauling the stolen steel along the M8 towards Glasgow on the night of the theft.

However, it was only discovered later that the trailers had been taken from the Houstoun Industrial Estate.

Jackson, of Barrmill, Ayrshire, has pleaded not guilty to forcing open the Marshall’s Construction site and taking two HGV trailers loaded with the 20-tonne steel assemblies on May 22, 2011.

The prosecution alleges the theft of the steelwork – specially built for the £16 million grandstand – was linked to serious and organised crime.

The trial continues.