A MUSSELBURGH woman drove her car into a security guard after she had been caught stealing goods from an Edinburgh store.

Leanne McCulloch was seen taking several cosmetic products from the shelves of the Boots outlet at Fort Kinnaird.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that McCulloch, of Goose Green Crescent, was spotted on CCTV by shop staff taking the items, worth £146.50, and store security was alerted.

Two security guards then followed the woman from the premises into the nearby car park and challenged her as she neared her car.

McCulloch, 44, ignored their requests to stop and got into her car, where she refused to hand over the stolen items.

One store employee then stood in front of McCulloch’s small hatchback in a bid to stop her leaving the area but she then proceeded to move her vehicle forward.

The court was told that she drove forward at a slow speed and struck the security guard “three or four times” on the leg, forcing him forward onto the bonnet.

Financial trouble

The second guard quickly leaned into the vehicle through an open window and managed to pull the keys from the ignition.

McCulloch then agreed to exit the vehicle and the court heard that she voluntarily handed the cosmetic goods back to the security staff.

The police were called and the security guard struck by the vehicle was said to be unharmed and did not require any medical attention.

McCulloch pleaded guilty to stealing multiple cosmetic goods from Boots on March 28, 2022 when she appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.

She also admitted to an amended charge of culpably and recklessly driving her vehicle into a store employee whereby it struck him on the body during the same incident.

The charge had been reduced from one of assault prior to McCulloch pleading guilty.

Lawyer Mark Harrower, representing McCulloch, said that his client had been in financial trouble at the time, leading her to commit the offence.

Sheriff Gill issued a fine of £185 for the theft charge and a further £415 penalty to mark the motoring charge, resulting in a total financial penalty of £600.