A violent thug has been sent back to jail following an armed robbery at an Aberdeen shop.
Terrance Masson, also known as Stewart, was out on licence last September when he went into the Premier Store on Gallowgate armed with a knife.
Masson, 34, had been released just weeks prior, but the court heard he had quickly fallen back into drug misuse which he claims sparked his behaviour.
Appearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court from custody, Masson admitted threatening the Premier Stores worker with a knife on September 20 last year and making off with £86 from the till along with some cigarettes.
Fiscal Dylan Middleton told the court Masson had gone to the shop – which he frequented regularly – at around 11.30am.
Explaining that the female shop worker had been re-stocking shelves as Masson walked in, she then moved behind the till area.
“[Masson] followed her behind the till and produced a knife,” Mr Middleton said.
Threatened to use knife
“He held the knife towards the complainer and told her to open the till or he would ‘cut her’.
“She told [Masson] that she didn’t know how to open the till and he continued to shout demands that she open it.
“During this, [Masson] seized hold of the complainer’s jacket and pulled her towards him and put the knife closer to her.
“[Masson] took a number of packets of cigarettes from one of the drawers behind the counter and, using the till key, took the money out of the till drawer amounting to £86.”
The shop worker managed to push an alarm button whilst Masson rifled through the till – setting off a loud siren within the store, the fiscal explained.
Fled the scene
Masson fled and was seen running towards Mounthooly and then out of view.
Masson’s defence solicitor Neil McRobert said his client had been trying to “stay straight” following his release last year but had been put in temporary accommodation which was “rife with drugs and drug users”.
Mr McRobert added: “This is what led to this case, as he was using illicit tablets at the time.
“This was his local shop and was a known customer – he has referred to it as a cry for help.
Wants to be jailed
“It smacks of him wanting to go back to jail – and accepts that a custodial sentence needs to be imposed.”
Mr McRobert went on to ask that a supervised release order be put in place next time to help support his client.
Sheriff Lesley Johnstone said it was a violent and extremely frightening incident “compounded by using a knife”.
“You used the knife to threaten violence,” she continued. “To steal money.
Frightening actions
“The complainer was simply going about her business. She must have been extremely frightened by your actions.
“In light of your previous analogous convictions and you were out on licence, custody is the only option.”
She ordered Masson to be sent back to prison to carry out the remainder of his previous sentence and handed him a further 10 months to run consecutively on top.
She also added a five-month supervised release order “for the protection of the public” upon Masson’s eventual release from jail.