An armed robber jailed for a terrifying raid on a Dundee off-licence has been sent back to prison.
Kevin Drapajlo slashed a shopkeeper with a knife when he targeted the Drinksmart store in the city’s Strathmartine Road in early 2019.
Frightened staff tried to lock him inside but he managed to get away with cigarettes and the owner’s Apple Macbook.
Drapajlo was jailed for nearly four years for the robbery, which Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC described at the time as a “horrifying experience.”
On Wednesday, the 36-year-old returned to Dundee Sheriff Court and admitted breaching a supervised release order.
He further pled guilty to a separate charge of having a bladed item in public.
Drapajlo, of Forth Crescent, Dundee, was caught carrying a screwdriver at the city’s Wester Gourdie Industrial Estate on September 28, 2021.
Sheriff George Way jailed Drapajlo for a year but said no further action would be taken regarding the breach.
‘Where’s the money?’
The court previously heard Drapajlo burst into the Drinksmart shop and brandished a knife at worker Alona Liekiene.
As she held up her hands to protect her face, the robber cut her finger with an orange-coloured blade.
The court was told Miss Liekiene began work at around midday on January 9 and drugged-up Drapajlo entered the store at 3.30pm.
He tried to buy tobacco with a contactless debit card but this was declined.
Drapajlo left the shop but returned 10 minutes later, running inside clutching a blade before shouting: “Where’s the money. Give me the money.”
As he grabbed the MacBook laptop, Miss Liekiene managed to get out of the shop and fled to Tech Repairs next door.
Miss Liekiene and the shop’s owner watched from outside as Drapajlo stuffed tobacco packets into his pockets.
Despite their efforts to hold the front door and keep him inside, Drapajlo made off.
Drapajlo later apologised via his solicitor.
He said he accepted his behaviour was “extremely scary” and could not bring himself to watch the CCTV footage.
Jailing Drapajlo for 46 months, Sheriff Drummond told him: “This must have been a horrifying experience for that shop worker.
“You injured her, you robbed her, it has had a lasting impact on her.”
