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.

Hammer-wielding masked men stole cash register from Peterhead shop

Steven McGee and James Vidgen stole a till from a Peterhead convenience store. Supplied by Facebook/Google.
Steven McGee and James Vidgen stole a till from a Peterhead convenience store. Supplied by Facebook/Google.

Two hammer-wielding masked robbers snatched a till from a Peterhead mini-mart as the terrified shop worker hid in the back.

Steven McGee, 33, and James Vidgen, 36, burst into the Premier Express convenience store on Longate and shouted “where’s the money?”.

McGee was waving a hammer above his head and screaming threats, causing the worker to barricade himself in the stock room.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the pair managed to escape with the till, which they concealed nearby and later hailed a taxi to recover.

Steven McGee and James Vidgen ripped a cash register from a Peterhead store. Pictures from Facebook.

Thieves ripped till from counter

Fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar told the court that on December 19 last year the pair boasted to a friend they were going to rob the shop before donning dark clothing, hoods and masks.

She said that in the early evening the shop worker was in the stock room when he heard a noise in the shop.

“As he reached the door of the stock room he was met by the accused McGee coming towards him wielding a hammer above his head demanding ‘where’s the money? I need the money or I’ll hit you’.

“The complainer remained within the stock room and closed the door.

“He then heard the voice of the accused Vidgen and heard pulling and ripping and thought it was the till being removed. He called 999.”

Carried till along the street

Around the same time, a female shopper entered the store and saw McGee “flailing his arms” and banging the hammer against the cash register shouting “till! till!”.

She also saw Vidgen lingering close by.

The woman ran from the shop and called the police.

The pair were later seen exiting the store and carrying the till along the street.

The fiscal depute said at some point McGee and Vidgen hid the till because later that night they ordered a taxi to take them to the spot.

They returned to McGee’s home with the till then shared out the £200 that was inside.

Police later used CCTV to trace both McGee and Vidgen and found a black hammer similar to the one used in the robbery.

They also found the clothes the pair had discarded in a nearby bin.

McGee and Vidgen pleaded guilty to one charge of robbery and assault by brandishing the hammer at the shop worker.

Sheriff – ‘this is a very serious offence’

McGee’s defence agent Iain Hingston called for social work reports to be carried out and stated that his client realised that his previous conviction last year for assault and robbery would be of concern to the court.

Vidgen’s solicitor Sam Milligan also called for reports to be carried out.

Sheriff Andrew Miller deferred the sentence on McGee and Vidgen, both of whom are currently residing at HMP Grampian, in order for a criminal justice social work report and risk assessment to be carried out.

He described the matter as a “very serious offence”.

For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen and the latest crime and breaking incidents, join our new Facebook group HERE. Â