An Aberdeen armed robber who traumatised a lone female shop worker after he threatened to stab her with a large knife could face having his sentence increased following an appeal hearing.
Veteran criminal John Gallagher, 51, was jailed for three and a half years last year following his raid on a store in Aberdeen.
But the Crown brought an appeal against the sentence imposed on him at the High Court in Edinburgh, maintaining that it was “unduly lenient”.
The Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Beckett, sitting with Lord Doherty and Lord Matthews, reserved their decision in the case today following a hearing and will give a ruling later.
Advocate depute Mark Mohammed KC told the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh that the starting sentence chosen by Lord Summers was unduly lenient, although no issue was taken with the discount he applied following a guilty plea which resulted in the final sentence of three and a half years imprisonment.
Lengthy criminal record
The prosecutor said it was a planned robbery committed when the accused was masked and armed with a large knife and a pair of scissors.
He said: “He brandished both of these items, in particular the knife, in a stabbing motion at the victim.”
He said the assault and robbery took place in a confined space where the woman was not able to escape and the impact on her was serious.
Mr Mohammed argued that the offence was aggravated by Gallagher’s lengthy criminal record, both in England and Scotland, which included a seven-year sentence for armed robbery at Liverpool Crown Court in 2012.
He said: “The Crown’s submission is that the sentencing judge failed to give adequate weight to the seriousness of the offence.”
Sarah Loosemore, counsel for Gallagher, said that a sentence of five years’ imprisonment selected by Lord Summers before he applied a discount for the guilty plea was within the range of sentences for the offence and there was no basis for the appeal judges to interfere.
Terrifying ordeal for woman
Gallagher admitted assaulting the 46-year-old woman and robbing her of cigarettes on the evening of July 2 last year at the premier Store at Urquhart Road, in Aberdeen. He also admitted unlawful possession of a knife at Urquhart Road.
When he entered the shop she told him to remove the head gear he was wearing and Gallagher reacted by pulling out a knife, which he pointed at her, before demanding money from the till.
Gallagher repeatedly demanded she open the till but she made a 999 call and tried to stop him taking cigarettes after he failed to get cash.
The robber ran into the arms of passing police officers who had noticed a disturbance. After they stopped their vehicle they received a relay advising of a robbery going on at the shop as they entered the premises.