Jail for yob who threatened to petrol bomb Aberdeen Tesco car park then phoned police to complain staff wouldn’t serve him

A yob who threatened to petrol bomb an Aberdeen supermarket car park – then phoned police to complain staff wouldn’t serve him – has been jailed.

Albert Massie also told police officers he had coronavirus and threatened to spit at them during the shocking incident.

The 30-year-old had been second in the queue outside Tesco on Wellington Road, Aberdeen, around 2pm on May 2, but lost patience and marched into the shop to buy tobacco while a female store assistant tried to reason with him.

Sentence had previously been deferred for reports but Massie was back in court yesterday via a video link to learn his fate.

Defence agent Mike Monro said his client had made “as good an effort as he felt he could to keep out of trouble” but added: “Obviously it has failed dismally.”

The solicitor said Massie was under the influence of drugs at the time and suffered from mental health issues.

Sheriff William Summers ordered Massie, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, to be jailed for a total of 30 months and also imposed a 12-month supervised release order.

Fiscal depute Colin Neilson previously told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “The accused was second in line. He said to a member of staff ‘what would you do if I just walked in?’

“The member of staff tried to calm down the accused.

“The accused then skipped the queue, failed to observe the two-metre social distance advice and entered the store stating ‘I’m getting my tobacco’.

“The member of staff followed the accused and kindly requested he return outside or he wouldn’t get served.

“The accused replied ‘do you want an elbow?’ while lunging towards her.”

The woman then asked a colleague to call the police and another member of staff tried to assist.

However, Massie continued to make threats against both women including “I’ll petrol bomb the car park”, “I’ll get your phone number” and “I’ll find you”.

Mr Neilson said: “The accused then telephoned the police himself to make a complaint that Tesco were refusing to serve him.

“The accused then knocked over a large display of toilet paper before leaving the store.

“As he left he said ‘I’m going to smash up any car I see and it’s going to be your fault’ and ‘why don’t I just wait for you when you finish work, I’ll be there with extra bodies, I’ll gun you, cause I’m good for that’ or something similar.”

The threats were directed at the first member of staff.

Mr Neilson said: “The police arrived. The accused started to run away however was caught soon after.”

At Kittybrewster police station Massie’s behaviour “repeatedly switched between calm and aggressive”.

Mr Neilson said: “When aggressive he screamed and kicked the cell door of the police vehicle.

“When taken into the holding area he made threats to two constables including that he had coronavirus and was going to spit at them.”

In a separate incident in the early hours of July 9, Massie assaulted his partner by grabbing her by the throat and pushing her against a wall, restricting her breathing.

Police were contacted and officers attended and woke Massie up around 9am.

Massie became “immediately agitated” and began making threats including “I will box every single one of you”.

Mr Neilson told the court: “A short time later while in conversation with the police he picked up a large silver kitchen knife with a blade length of approximately eight inches.

“He brandished it initially towards officers saying ‘who’s first boys?’.

“Officers took out their PAVA incapacitant spray and told the accused to drop the knife. The accused dropped the knife.”

En route to the police station Massie then “expressed regret” at threatening officers with a knife, but went on to say “if he didn’t have a cigarette then he would fight the police officers”.

Mr Neilson said: “The accused then said he was going to spit on officers and said ‘I’m going to give you hep’. He spat on the floor.”

Massie, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to three charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, a domestically aggravated charge of assault, and assaulting a police officer.