A man whose attempt to hold up a local shop with a screwdriver was thwarted by a brave mum on the school run has been found guilty.
Michelle Fraser told the jury she bundled Jason Ryan to the ground after she spotted him brandishing a screwdriver at the shop assistant.
Ryan had denied charges of attempted robbery, attempted robbery and assault, threatening or abusive behaviour and two counts of possession of a bladed or sharply pointed article.
But a jury at Inverness Sheriff Court took just an hour and three quarters to find him guilty of all the charges.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir previously 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 told the jury Ryan brandished a screwdriver at her, causing her to trip and fall as she attempted to get away.
Mum’s brave actions caught on CCTV
The court had previously seen CCTV in which Ryan, 49, was tackled to the ground by 32-year-old mum Michelle, who kept him pinned with her body until he became subdued.
The court heard that Ryan was stopped and arrested by police soon afterwards.
Speaking from behind a screen in the witness box, she 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”.
The mum said what happened had left her children, aged four and six, “scared to go to the shop”.
‘She flattened me’
On the final day of the trial, jurors had heard from the fiscal depute, who reminded the jury that both Michelle and the shop assistant had given evidence that Ryan told them he had a second screwdriver in his pocket – a fact that was confirmed by police who seized the item when Ryan was arrested a short time later.
He said: “How can they have known that is true unless they are just telling the truth?”
In his own closing speech, Ryan, who represented himself, again denied all the charges and insisted he was the victim of assault.
He stated: “It is not what it looks like on that camera, she flattened me.
“I’m not shown in that shop grabbing anything, I’m not shown being aggressive – I was the one who was being put on the ground.
“I’m not the quickest of people, but that is the truth – I did nothing. I was assaulted in that shop.”
But the jury rejected his version of events and returned guilty verdicts on all five charges, subject to certain deletions.
At Ryan’s own request, Sheriff Sara Matheson called for a criminal justice social work report and restriction of liberty assessment.
She deferred sentencing to a later date and remanded Ryan in custody in the meantime.
