An armed robber staged two raids at stores in the north-east within days of being released early from prison.
Desperate Ewan Hardie pointed a knife at a shopkeeper in Peterhead and forced her to hand over more than £1,000 from the till.
The next day he struck again at Newburgh Post Office and told staff he had a gun.
After escaping with £970, he offered members of the public cash to drive him to Turriff.
Yesterday, Hardie appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh and admitted assaulting and robbing staff at both premises on two consecutive days in February.
The 42-year-old serial criminal was jailed for 16 months for assault and housebreaking last year. He was freed on licence on January 21.
The court heard that shop assistant Ela Kadlubowska was working alone at the Micro Movies convenience store in Peterhead’s Chapel Street when Hardie walked in on the evening of Sunday, February 2.
Advocate depute Murdoch MacTaggart said he walked behind her as she stood at the counter and repeatedly demanded money from the till.
“The assistant turned round and saw the accused’s face was covered with a scarf or similar item and she could only see his eyes,” said Mr MacTaggart.
“She then saw that he was holding a knife in his hand and he pointed it toward her.”
The till was opened and Hardie lunged forward and grabbed all the bank notes – about £1,300 – before leaving the shop.
As soon as he left, Ms Kadlubowska pressed the panic button to alert police.
She said yesterday: “It was a frightening experience, I didn’t know what was going to happen. He just kept asking me for money, over and over.
“When he got the money, he just ran out of the shop. I was okay afterwards. It’s just one of those things you have to deal with.”
Hardie was seen walking towards Peterhead harbour. He went to a taxi office and got a lift to Aberdeen, the court heard. Staff noticed that he had a large number of £20 notes with him.
The next day, Laura Adams was working at Newburgh Post Office when Hardie barged in.
He shouted at Ms Adams, although at first she did not hear what was said.
A customer, who had a young child with her, heard him shout: “I’ve got a gun.”
Hardie began to kick a door which gave access to the area behind the counter and shouted that he was going to shoot.
He eventually booted a hole in the door, crawled through and snatched money from the till.
The customer noticed that Hardie was holding, not a gun, but a wooden stick.
After he left, the police were called.
He was caught as he tried to persuade people in Newburgh to drive him to Turriff.
Mr MacTaggart said: “Both ladies and the child were frightened and distressed from what they had observed.”
When searched by police, Hardie was found to have £970 in a jacket pocket and a further £500 in a wallet.
When interviewed, he denied any involvement with the robberies.
His counsel, advocate Shahid Latif, said that Hardie had taken “legal highs” at the time of the offences.
Judge Lady Scott deferred sentence until next month for background reports.
Hardie, who was described in court papers as a prisoner at HMP Grampian, was remanded in custody.
No one at Newburgh Post Office was available to comment yesterday.