Two men have been jailed over a terrifying assault and robbery in an Aberdeen supermarket car park.
Barry Robertson, 50, and Laurence Stewart, 33, admitted their parts in robbery which saw the man and woman confronted with a screwdriver and knife as they made their way towards the Morrisons store on King Street.
Stewart, Robertson, and a third unknown culprit made off with a wallet and a smartphone after the incident, on February 8, in a secluded part of the car park out of view of the store’s CCTV.
The pair appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court via video link for sentencing with Robertson having pled guilty to a single charge of assault and robbery of the woman and Stewart pleading guilty to two charges of assault and robbery relating to the woman and a male.
Defence agent Dylan Middleton, representing Robertson, said: “His recollection is limit. Consumption of Xanax is the reason for that.
Solicitor Ian Woodward-Nutt, representing Stewart, said his client had been “heavily under the influence of illicit substances and alcohol” and his recollection was “hazy”.
He added the incident had related to a disagreement over money owed to Stewart and drugs.
Sheriff William Summers jailed Stewart, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, for three years, and Robertson, also a prisoner of HMP Grampian, for 30 months with a supervised release order for 12 months.
Fiscal depute Colin Neilson previously told the court the man and woman were walking through the car park at 8pm.
He said: “As they approached the shop they saw a man sitting on the ground in a trolley shelter. They also saw two other males approaching them (the accused Stewart and Robertson) nearby in the car park.”
Mr Neilson went on to say: “The accused Stewart was a few metres away when he took a screwdriver from his jacket. The screwdriver was approximately nine inches long.
“The male from the trolley shelter then approached the man, put his right arm around his neck in a headlock, and said ‘give us the lot, give us everything’.”
The court heard the man pressed a knife against the male victim’s neck before struggling to the ground and feeling inside the victim’s pockets asking if he had drugs.
Mr Neilson said: “The victim told him that he didn’t use drugs and the male said ‘I don’t care, where are they?’
“They managed to take his wallet containing his driving licence, bank card, student card and earphones.”
Mr Neilson said Stewart turned his attention to the woman and was holding the screwdriver “inches from her face”.
The court heard: “He told her to give him everything. She had informed him that she didn’t have anything. The accused Robertson stood behind her and pressed a sharp object into her back.”
He said Robertson began searching her pockets and took a phone charger and phone from her jacket pocket.
Stewart and Robertson then ran away with the third man yet to be traced by the authorities.
All of the items were later recovered by police from an address in Aberdeen.
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