A violent criminal who threatened former football star Gordon Durie at knifepoint during an attempted car-jacking has been jailed for 40 months.
The 56-year-old ex-Rangers and Scotland striker ran for his life as he was chased by a masked man demanding his car keys.
John Rodden, just out of jail, had pointed a kitchen knife with a six-inch blade at the terrified driver and warned him: “Don’t be a f****** hero”.
Rodden, 38, from Drumchapel, appeared from custody at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing, having submitted a guilty plea in March.
Sheriff Charles Macnair jailed him for 40 months.
Former Rangers, Chelsea, Tottenham and Hibs Mr Durie star had been watching his son play in a football match in Cardenden and had been accompanied by his grandchildren moments before the attack.
He ran from his car, leaving the keys on the passenger seat but Rodden did not see them and chased after the ex-footballer, still demanding them.
Mr Durie managed to get away and Rodden, still not spotting the keys in the car, left empty-handed.
Rodden had been living in Fife following his release from jail after serving a five-year sentence for robbing a service station armed with an axe.
Mr Durie was about to drive home to Uddingston when Rodden struck and attempted to steal his Volkswagen Tiguan.
Rodden admitted assaulting and attempting to rob Mr Durie on that on January 15 at Dundonald Park, Cardenden.
‘Don’t be a hero’
Depute fiscal Zahra Bhatti previously told the court: “While walking to his car, Mr Durie saw the accused, who was not known to him, standing at the bus stop, wearing a black face covering, obscuring most of his face.
“At that point he didn’t think anything of this.
“When Mr Durie got into the driver’s seat he heard the back door being opened.
“He was startled.
“This was then slammed shut and the driver’s door was then opened.
“He then saw the accused standing over him with a kitchen knife with a blade of around six inches in length.
“He shouted: ‘Don’t be a f****** hero, get out the f****** car’.
“Mr Durie got out of the car and began backing away, at which point the accused got into the driver’s seat and then back out of the car again.
“The accused shouted, ‘Where’s the f****** keys, give me the f****** keys’.
“He was still holding the knife.
“Mr Durie had left the keys on the front passenger seat but told him he had the keys, while backing off in the direction of the football ground.
“At that point, the accused started to run towards him shouting: ‘Give me the f****** keys’.
“Mr Durie turned and ran, shouting ‘Help, help’. He was terrified.”
Victim ‘visibly upset and shaken’
The fiscal continued: “After a short distance, he looked over his shoulder and saw the accused stop and walk away at the residential part of the street.
“He walked back towards the bus stop and was lost to sight.
“Mr Durie phoned his son and when he arrived, they both walked back over to the car.
“The door was still open and the keys were still inside.
“Both went into the clubhouse at the football ground and they contacted the police.
“At around 5.28pm police attended.
“Mr Durie was visibly upset and shaken.”
Accused caught
Local CCTV footage was checked and the knife, with Rodden’s DNA on it, was found.
He was arrested and said: “I don’t care, I’m going back to jail.
“I have just done five years and I just tried to steal a boy’s car but he ran away with the keys.”
Defence solicitor Alison Miller previously described her client’s actions as “poor decision making” and said he had never intended to use the knife.
Gordon Durie was brought up and educated in Fife and started his playing career at East Fife, a club he later managed.
He went on to play 43 times for Scotland, including the Euro ’96 Finals and the World Cup Finals in France two years later.
