A “despicable” robber who attacked a teenage girl and a pensioner in separate incidents on the same day has been jailed.
Wayne Martin tried to rob the 17-year-old of her purse at Morrisons in Arbroath before choking Jeffrey Heenan, 66, near the town’s Tesco store.
Martin was jailed for two years at Dundee Sheriff Court for the attacks on April 20.
The court heard Martin approached his female victim near the petrol station at Morrisons.
The victim knew Martin and was stunned to see him approach her before trying to make off with her purse.
Fiscal depute Marie Irvine said: “She grabbed hold of her purse shouting ‘what the **** are you doing?’
“She said ‘there’s nothing in it’ before the accused said ‘if there’s only change in it that’s all right’.”
Martin let go and started to walk away as the victim shouted: “You don’t know what you have done. I know who you are.”
He pulled his hood over his face and the teenager later reported the incident to the police.
The 22-year-old then approached Mr Heenan on nearby Rossie Street after he had left Tesco.
He was carrying £870 in cash at the time as well as a number of bank cards.
Martin grabbed Mr Heenan from behind and compressed his neck while saying “Gie us your ******* money or I’ll kill you.”
But his victim refused to give up without a fight and the pair engaged in a struggle.
They placed each other in a headlock while Martin struck repeated blows to Mr Heenan’s body.
The pensioner managed to strike Martin’s head off a wall several times before the pair ended up in a garden.
Martin, a prisoner at Perth, pleaded guilty to assaulting the teenager on Hume Street by reaching over her shoulder, grabbing her purse, engaging in a struggle and trying to rob her.
He also admitted grabbing Mr Heenan’s neck from behind, making threats, engaging in a struggle and punching him to the back before trying to rob him.
Jailing Martin, Sheriff Tom Hughes told him: “This is a despicable way of acting towards those members of the public and it cannot be condoned by the courts. I will take into account the fact you have pled guilty at the earliest opportunity.”
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