A late-night lift home turned into a terrifying ordeal for one Aberdeen reveller when the kindly stranger who picked him up turned out to be a violent robber.
John Hendry spotted his victim drunkenly making his way home on Denburn Road and pulled his grey Vauxhall over to offer him a lift.
His target had no sooner buckled himself in when the atmosphere turned nasty and Hendry demanded he hand over his cash.
Hendry refused to let the man leave the car and insisted he give him his wallet and phone and accompany him to a nearby bank machine to withdraw cash, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
Fiscal depute Carol Gammie said Hendry, 27, was serving a 10-year roads ban at the time of the offences, on December 29 last year.
Targeted intoxicated man
She said his victim was walking alone in the city centre of Aberdeen at 4.20am having earlier been denied entry to a nightclub.
“He was at the pedestrian crossing when he saw a grey Vauxhall car,” the fiscal said. “He was asked if he wanted a lift and he agreed and entered the car.”
However, moments later Hendry demanded his money because he “needed it for his pregnant girlfriend”, Ms Gammie said.
“He said he would assault the man if he didn’t give him £20 but the witness said he didn’t have any money,” the fiscal continued.
“The accused waded through the man’s wallet and saw a debit card and said they were going to an ATM.”
Tension mounted when, after arriving at the Morrison’s supermarket on King Street, they found the ATM out of order.
Hendry became “angry” and gave his victim the bank card back but kept hold of the man’s phone and wallet.
The deputy fiscal said he then drove “angrily around Aberdeen” before parking up at the beach.
It was there that Hendry’s victim spotted an opportunity to escape.
He managed to grab his belongings from Hendry’s lap and tried to flee the car while Hendry repeatedly bit, punched and kicked him.
“The witness punched the accused back and managed to open the passenger side door,” the fiscal added. “He ran up the street and was followed by the accused who could be heard shouting after him.
“The man fell to the ground to his injury and the accused was heard to say ‘I’m sorry’ before returning to his car and making off.”
Police attended and the man was treated at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary before he was able to identify his attacker using CCTV footage from police.
Banned from road until 2030
The man was treated for bruising and swelling to his eye, lip and nose as well as bite marks and scratches.
Hendry admitted one charge of assault with intent to rob and two further road traffic offences – driving while disqualified and without insurance.
He appeared via videolink from HMP Grampian in Peterhead.
His defence agent Alex Burn said Hendry “certainly knows he shouldn’t have been driving” and that he takes full responsibility for the incident.
He said his client had a poor upbringing and a good example was not set to him.
“The catalyst was his partner is pregnant,” the solicitor added. “He realises he doesn’t want to be the father that his father was.
“He has a number of previous convictions but violence is not something he ordinarily would involve himself in. It’s usually taking and stealing cars.”
Sheriff Ian Wallace jailed Hendry, a prisoner at the HMP Grampian, for a total of two years.
He also banned him from the road, again, for 13 years and 90 days and handed him an eight-month supervised release order.
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