Man faces life for oil attack on Livingston driveway
A man could face a life sentence after maliciously pouring oil on a driveway at a couple's home.
Gary Barron, 47, admitted carrying out the offence at the house of his parents-in-law. He had previously set fire to his wife's home.
The oil incident occurred on 12 April at Kaims Court, Livingston.
In the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Menzies deferred sentence on Barron, for the preparation of a full risk assessment report.
The sheriff at Livingston Sheriff Court had sent him to the High Court to consider whether it was an appropriate case for an Order for Lifelong Restriction.
Sheriff Douglas Kinloch had said it was a "somewhat difficult and anxious case" to sentence.
He had pointed out that Barron had previously been jailed for setting fire to the home of his wife after they began living apart and for cutting the brake pipes on her car.
Barron had been living in Armadale, in West Lothian, but is currently in Edinburgh's Saughton prison.
Advocate depute Andrew Stewart QC said witnesses to the latest offence had described the oil as being all over the driveway.
The cost of repair is thought to have been about £3,000.
Defence counsel Edgar Prais QC said at the time Barron did not know where his wife was living as she was at a secret address.
Mr Prais said that before Barron sustained a head injury in a motorcycle accident he had been "a perfectly responsible, hard-working man".
The defence counsel said: "Clearly it is a very, very difficult case when it comes to the matter of sentencing."
A full risk assessment report can lead to the making of an Order for Lifelong Restriction under which a judge sets a minimum jail term to be served and any future release is decided by the parole board with continuing supervision.