A desperate Aberdeen mugger armed with a screwdriver burst into tears when his victim said she didn’t have any money.
Rafael-Samuel Mirauta approached the woman as she walked along Aberdeen’s George Street, before pulling out the screwdriver and holding it inches from her face.
But when the woman insisted she didn’t have any cash, the 24-year-old began to cry, prompting the woman to say that she “might have a pound in her purse”.
But as the mugger “appeared to ponder” the offer, the woman saw her chance and managed to run away.
Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened around 10.45pm on July 12 last year, at George Street’s junction with Fraser Place and Powis Lane.
She said the woman saw Mirauta walking towards her looking “agitated”.
‘I just need money’
Ms Simpson said: “The accused walked towards the complainer and stopped in front of her, stating ‘give me your money’.
“She then saw that the accused had a large screwdriver in his left hand, which she estimated to be around 30 centimetres long, including the handle.
“The accused held the screwdriver at shoulder height, with an outstretched arm
towards her, approximately three inches from her face.”
The woman said “I actually have nothing” and took a step back, holding her hands out to show she didn’t have anything.
Ms Simpson said: “He replied ‘I don’t give a f**k, I just need money’, and then he started crying.
“The complainer told him that she might have a pound in her purse and then, as the accused appeared to ponder this, she took the opportunity to run away.”
She hid in a lane off George Street as Mirauta continued down the road and watched until police, who had been contacted by other witnesses, arrived and apprehended him.
Christmas crime
In a separate incident, on Christmas Day 2021, Mirauta, broke into the Berryden Sainsbury’s and stole more than £3,700 of goods.
Ms Simpson told the court: “On entering, the drawers at the cigarette kiosk were found to have been opened and the contents removed.
“Various charity tins had also been moved and the contents removed.
Two cases of Jack Daniels were found lying by a rear door in the warehouse and a cage storing high-value items was lying open.
Police were contacted and CCTV was checked.
Ms Simpson said: “At 6.04pm on December 25, the accused is seen gaining entry by pulling open the rear fire escape, he enters and breaks open a high-value cage
containing various boxes of alcohol by forcing it with his shoulder.
“The accused then placed two boxes of Jack Daniels onto a dark pedal cycle before cycling towards Berryden Road, Aberdeen.”
An hour later he was seen to return, wearing different clothes, and remove packets of tobacco, bottles of alcohol and cosmetic items.
He then cycles off again on the same bike.
Ms Simpson said: “The accused was seen to cycle from the locus towards his home
address on at least four occasions before returning from the same direction.”
She said the total value of goods stolen was £3,710, while a further £4,000 in damage was caused.
Student’s flat targeted
And in another separate incident, on Valentine’s Day this year, Mirauta broke into a student’s flat on Market Street by smashing through plasterboard in the attic.
The court heard the 30-year-old student had been in his living room around 7pm when he heard someone coming down from the recently converted attic bedroom.
When he went into the hall to check, he found Mirauta standing at the bottom of the stairs holding a knife.
Ms Simpson said: “The complainer asked the accused who he was and the accused replied that he had come in from next door.”
The student opened his door and showed the intruder out.
Police were then contacted and the man went to inspect the attic and found “a hole in the plasterboard wall that the accused must have come through”.
A wardrobe and drawers had also been opened but nothing was missing.
Just 20 minutes later, Mirauta entered Sunny’s newsagent on Market Street and was seen placing food items in his jacket sleeve.
When confronted by staff, he became “angry” and dropped some of the items.
Police were contacted and traced Mirauta in Premier Stores on Union Street with the knife and a tin of fish paste stolen from Sunny’s in his pocket.
Mirauta, of Powis Lane, Aberdeen, pled guilty to assault with intent to rob, possession of a screwdriver, theft by housebreaking, housebreaking with intent to steal, shoplifting, behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, and possession of a knife.
‘Spiralled out of control pretty quickly’
Defence agent Paul Barnett said his client had had a “rather unhappy childhood” with his mother absent and father suffering from mental health issues.
He said Mirauta had moved to the UK in 2013 where his drug use became “more problematic” following the death of his father.
His drug use again became more problematic in 2021 when he began a relationship with a woman who was also a drug user.
He then “spiralled out of control pretty quickly”, taking crack cocaine and diazepam.
Mr Barnett said Mirauta had “little or no recollection” of the offences, but that he “expressed remorse and says he’s very ashamed”.
Sheriff Ian Wallace jailed Mirauta for 15 months in relation to the screwdriver mugging, and a further 18 months, but backdated to February 15, over the attic break-in episode.
In relation to the Sainsbury’s break-in, he imposed a two-year supervision order.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.