A West Lothian dad has spoken of the terrifying moment a ‘six-inch knife’ was pulled on him when he confronted thieves trying to break into his van.
Stuart Colquhoun (33) and his partner Kirsty, from Livingston, were caring for their new baby on May 15 when he heard a noise from outside at around 11.50pm.
The electrician checked his CCTV linked to his phone and was horrified to spot a masked figure next to his van.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, he explained how he went into full ‘defense’ mode knowing his partner, Kirsty, and three children, including a newborn, were in the house.
He said: “I am shaken up about it. I saw a figure at the back of my work van and I just went into full protection mode. I shouted to my partner that there was someone at my van and I opened the door and shouted.
His partner, Kirsty, thought he had startled them but when he went out to check, he saw two men behind the vehicle
“They just didn’t seem to care. They had such an attitude,” Stuart said. “One guy ran away and as I started chasing him, he just stopped and pulled out a six-inch knife in front of me.
“I didn’t know if Kirsty was right behind me so I just shouted ‘knife!’ and I ran back into the house and locked the door. The guy chased me until he got to the back of the van again.”
The dad-of-three explained that they were told to stay in the house until the police arrived, which they did 15 minutes later, but by that point, the two masked men had fled in an Audi.
When he went to inspect his van, he found a three-inch by three-inch hole in his van.
He inspected the van and found a hole had been cut in the back door (Image: supplied)
“Thankfully they didn’t have a chance to take anything but even if they had another ten seconds, they could have been away with stuff. I’m one of the lucky ones to say that I scared them away but people shouldn’t approach them, getting threatened with a knife when I have a family in the house isn’t a great thing.
“I’ve installed an alarm system on the house now because Kirsty is struggling to sleep after it.
“With me, if my tools were stolen, that would be the end of my career. I’m independent, I’ve done everything myself and this has been 13 or 14 years of collecting tools and they’re things I would never be able to get back. It’s a lot of money and I know other guys who have had their full vans nicked.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 12am on Thursday, 16 May, 2023 we received a report of an attempted vehicle break-in on Doon Walk, Livingston.
“Officers attended and there were no reports of any injuries.
“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”
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