A Dundee man who robbed a heavily pregnant woman of her bank card in broad daylight in a city centre street was jailed for 11 months by Sheriff Elizabeth Munro at Dundee Sheriff Court on Monday.
Andrew John Casey Johnstone (22), of Brown Street, admitted robbing Lynne Fairfield of the card in Hawkhill on January 17. He further admitted that on December 10 at JD Sports, Murraygate, he stole two tops.
On the day of the robbery Ms Fairfield told The Courier that she had gone to a cash machine outside the Tesco store on Hawkhill, near the roundabout at West Port. She said she was “shocked and really scared” after a drug addict attempted to rob her of £50.
Ms Fairfield (27), who lives near the West Port area, said she was approached by the “young junkie” who indicated he had something in his pocket, “possibly a knife,” and demanded she take out the money from the machine.
The brave young mum said despite pushing him away and shouting at him, he brushed her aside and punched in the amount he wanted, but the request was declined by the machine. The would-be robber then calmly returned the card to the woman and walked away.
Ms Fairfield said, “I was aware of the boy hanging about. He looked like he was in his late teens or early 20s I’m always aware of them loitering around the banks.
“He was clearly a junkie and he came over and told me to take out £50. I told him to go away and shouted at him and pushed him but he kept coming back.
“He had his hand in his pocket and he was gesturing at it as if he had something in it, like a knife. I started to freak out and moved away from the machine. My card was still in it and he just went up and punched in the numbers but the machine said there was insufficient funds.
“I’ve never had anything like this happen before. I am aware of them hanging around at banks but this was scary, he was just so brazen. There were cars about and people.”
In court on Monday solicitor Chris Gilmarton said the robbery was “out of character” for Johnstone who, although having a drug problem for six or seven years, “has never resorted to anything like this.”
He said Johnstone had not believed he had done it when arrested by police but, having seen the CCTV evidence, accepted “quite clearly he acted in an unspeakable way and he knows he is very lucky to be treated summarily.
“He is extremely remorseful. He was addled with valium that day and his recollection is virtually non-existent. There is no doubt though that he was the one who did it and he accepts that fully.
“He also accepts that he subjected this woman to a really awful ordeal and has instructed me that he wants to apologise to her. He also accepts there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
Jailing him for 11 months, Sheriff Munro told Johnstone, “This has obviously given you a fright and you were obviously appalled at your own behaviour. It was terrible and if you had a knife, things would have been an awful lot worse.”