Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘I have never been a bystander’: ‘Have-a-go hero’ chased attempted robber from Pitmedden Co-op  

Ray Wilson was picking up morning essentials when the incident happened on Friday morning.

Ray Wilson and Co-op Pitmedden.
Ray Wilson also drove around the streets of Pitmedden looking for the suspect. Image: DC Thomson.

A hero shopper has spoken of the moment he intervened during an attempted robbery at the Co-op in Pitmedden – and chased the alleged suspect from the store.

Ray Wilson went into the Co-op at Tarves Road at around 8.30am this morning to pick up “essentials.”

As he went went to the self-checkout to pay, the incident unfolded in front of him.

A 19-year-old man has since been arrested in connection, so we cannot reveal details of the encounter that took place for legal reasons.

However, we are safe to say that when Mr Wilson realised what was happening he shouted at the man to “behave himself.”

Co-op Pitmedden.
The Co-op in Pitmedden was closed for several hours today. Image: Darrell Benns/DC Thomson.

As parts of the store began to be damaged, he raced across the floor and chased the man out the door and across the road.

Mr Wilson went back to the shop, where the shop assistant was said to be “tearful.”

The 63-year-old, who is the managing director of Aberdeen-based business Array Training and lives in Udny, said he intervened because he has never been one to stand back.

“I have never been a bystander,” he said.

“I asked the assistant if she was OK – she was so upset and tearful. It was upsetting seeing her like that.

“I asked the elderly gentleman who was in getting his early shopping if he was OK too.

“I jumped into the car and drove around the streets of Pitmedden looking for this person.”

Pitmedden Co-op.
The incident happened this morning. Image: Darrell Benns/DC Thomson.

Mr Wilson told The P&J that his 47 years in martial arts gave him the “confidence” to deal with the situation.

He also shared his frustration with society today, which he says can leave many people “feeling threatened.”

“I’m happy I did something for the sake of the shop assistant and to not allow these things to happen,” Mr Wilson said.

“My strong message to all would be ‘goodness me, don’t stand back… stand up.”

After an eventful morning, what is the have-a-go hero’s plans for tonight?

“I’ll maybe have a red wine, and just say, ‘well, I’ve done a good deed, so it deserves a glass of wine’. I’ll maybe do that,” he said.

Conversation