A teenager who dragged a woman along the road as she tried to stop him stealing her car has been locked up for eight months.

James Muirhead, 18, took the vehicle from Laura Smith, who was waiting on a takeaway while standing beside her car with the door open.

She tried to grab her keys as Muirhead drove off and was dragged along the road for around 30ft before being thrown to the ground.

His co-accused John McAuley, 29, was spotted by officers in another car that had been reported stolen and sped off from a petrol garage when he was seen.

After tracking down two stolen cars near McAuley’s house, police arranged for them to be picked up by a 911 Recovery vehicle but after the driver collected them they were set alight by another man, William Cairns.

A bottle with petrol and tissue paper was found in the door of another car McAuley was later in, which was constructed to work "similar to a petrol bomb".

Muirhead pled guilty to stealing Ms Smith’s Vauxhall Astra on August 12, 2014 at Smithycroft Road, Glasgow, and to dangerous driving by taking off in the car off while Ms Smith was holding on.

At Glasgow Sheriff Court, he also admitted breaching bail on a number of dates in September 2014. The sheriff sent the teenager from Cranhill, Glasgow, to detention for eight months.

McAuley, from Stepps, North Lanarkshire, pled guilty to resetting a Mini Cooper car and Volkswagen Polo in August 2014. He also admitted charges of careless driving on Cumbernauld Road, Glasgow on August 12, 2014 and having in his possession an explosive substance with the intention of causing serious damage to property.

Sheriff Martin Jones QC jailed him for 18 months. A treatment order under the mental health act was granted for William Cairns, 25, from Craigend, Glasgow, with a report on progress due in six weeks.

The court heard that in July 2014 a Mini Cooper worth £10,500 was stolen from a house in Stepps and a Volkswagen Polo worth £12,000 was stolen from a house in Sandyhills in Glasgow later that month.

On August 12, police spotted McAuley in a Mini Cooper with a false plate when he took off at high speed. The same day Ms Smith was on Smithycroft Road waiting on a takeaway, standing beside her car.

Procurator fiscal depute Zahra Latif said: "The accused Muirhead jumped in the car and attempted to start it.

"Due to the modern key-less start there was a short delay before he got it started which allowed the witness to attempt to retrieve her keys and she managed to grab a hold of Muirhead.

"This did not deter him and he got the car started and began to drive off at excessive speed, in the process of doing so Smith was dragged between 20ft and 30ft and eventually thrown to the ground to her injury and to the danger of her life on the road."

Police investigations led them to McAuley’s house, where they saw a Mini Cooper and a Volkswagen Polo nearby.

A 911 Recovery vehicle, driven by John Sharkey, collected the cars and while driving he noticed a fire at the back of the truck.

Ms Latif said: "He jumped out the truck with a rag to use to put the fire out. As he got to the back of the recovery vehicle, he observed William Cairns with a green fuel can.

"Mr Sharkey challenged him and he said ‘you just stay there’. Mr Sharkey observed Cairns to be about 10ft to 12ft away and observed him to throw the liquid in the green fuel can at the vehicles and set them alight."

He drove towards oncoming traffic, fearful they might explode and cause serious injury, before calling the fire service.

Police later found CCTV showing Cairns filling the can with petrol. When officers went to McAuley's street on August 15, he and his sister arrived in a Vauxhall Astra.

A search of that car revealed a plastic bottle containing petrol with a tissue paper wick in the passenger door where he was sitting.

A police report said paper combined with the bottle had been constructed to function "in a manner similar to a petrol bomb" and his DNA was found on it.