A school-run mum tackled a screwdriver-wielding man to the floor as he allegedly attempted to rob a local shop, a court has been told.
Jason Ryan, 49, is said to have lunged at a shop assistant with the weapon when she refused to serve him alcohol before 10am.
But he was swiftly taken to the ground by mum Michelle Fraser, 32, who had popped into the shop with her two young children before school and watched the drama unfold.
Ryan is standing trial at Inverness Sheriff Court and denies attempted robbery, attempted robbery and assault, threatening or abusive behaviour and two counts of possessing an article with a blade or point.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir told the jury Ryan entered the Mooney’s convenience store in Lochalsh Road, Merkinch, shortly before 9am on February 18 this year and went straight to the alcohol section.
Shop assistant Amanda Locke told him alcohol could not be sold before 10am and when he began to help himself to alcohol regardless she approached him to put the bottles back.
Ms Locke claims Ryan allegedly brandished a screwdriver at her, causing her to trip and fall as she attempted to get away.
School run mum tackled alleged robber
Jurors were shown CCTV footage which shows the moment the mum-of-two rugby-tackled Ryan to the floor and then lies on top of him while he struggles.
Once he is subdued Ms Fraser appears to let up, at which point Ryan gets to his feet and runs from the store.
The court heard that Ryan was stopped and arrested by police soon afterwards.
Speaking from behind a screen in the witness box, Ms Fraser said: “The lady fell and screamed so I grabbed him to try and get the screwdriver
“We had an altercation and I pushed him towards the door of the shop. He fell to the floor. I stayed on top of him.
“He said he had another one in his pocket and he was going to get it.”
She said the incident felt like it lasted “a while” but was probably “only a few minutes”.
Children left ‘scared to go to shop’
The mum said what happened had left her children, aged four and six, “scared to go to the shop”.
She also denied a suggestion that she was the aggressor and assaulted Ryan.
Ryan is also accused of entering a nearby Spar store in Thornbush Road earlier the same day, brandishing a pointed item and demanding money.
Giving evidence in his own defence, which he is conducting without the aid of a solicitor, Ryan denied brandishing a screwdriver, despite one being recovered at the Lochalsh Road store and another from his jacket pocket.
Instead, he claimed he was holding a small red “bookie pen” in the CCTV footage that was played to the jury.
He said a screwdriver was found in his pocket when he was arrested because “there was a broken door in my digs”.
He also told the court he only visited the Spar store to “ask for the time”.
In his evidence, he confirmed he had been drinking the night before and “wasn’t that straight” when he entered Mooney’s, but claimed he had simply been trying to price beers to buy later that day when the shop assistant grabbed him.
‘She assaulted me’
He said: “She assaulted me. She had me by the wrist.
“I said ‘let go of my wrist’, she didn’t let go so I pulled away like that. I didn’t see her fall.
“When I went to leave [the mum] stood in front of me.
“She was the one that grabbed me. I brushed past her, she was on my back. All I wanted to do was leave the shop.”
He added: “I never attempted to rob the shop nor assault anybody, didn’t steal anything from it, didn’t attempt to steal anything from it. If I did it would be on camera.”
The trial, before Sheriff Sara Matheson, continues.
