A convicted killer who pulled off a fake shotgun robbery using two metal pipes stuck together with tape told shop workers: “Sorry, but I am going to need you to give me the money” – a court has heard.
Mark Junor, 46, left workers at a RS McColl store in Ellon “fearful” for their lives and walked out of the store with 40 Lambert and Butler cigarettes and £270 cash.
He entered the Provost Davidson Drive shop at 9.53pm on February 17 this year with what looked like a firearm, The High Court in Edinburgh was told.
But Junor, who was previously jailed for killing a man when a Peterhead drug deal went wrong, was actually armed with nothing more than two metal barrels tied together with tape.
Prosecutor Chris McKenna said that Junor entered the store wearing a flat cap, a blue surgical mask and a dark knee-length jacket.
He then approached male and female staff members with an item that they thought was a shotgun.
‘Sorry, I need the money’
The prosecutor explained: “He asked, ‘can I get 40 Lambert and Butler?’
“The accused then said something similar to ‘sorry, but I am going to need you to give me the money’.
“He produced a black item described by the witnesses as two metal poles with black tape on them. Both witnesses believed the item to be a double-barrelled shotgun.
“Part of the item was concealed by the accused’s jacket. The victims feared for their safety upon seeing this.
“The accused grabbed the two packets of cigarettes and said, ‘I’m not dangerous. I’m just desperate’.”
Junor left the shop with cigarettes and £270 in cash, but not before he warned staff he would come back to the shop with “an associate” if they called police.
“After a couple of minutes, the male member of staff locked the front door and his female colleague activated the silent alarm,” the prosecutor added.
“They went into the stock room which is protected by a secure metal door and contacted the police.
“The man described being genuinely concerned for his life during the incident and the woman described being traumatised afterwards.”
‘He didn’t need the money’
On Wednesday, defence counsel David Moggach said that his client was unable to explain why he committed the robbery.
He added: “It is bizarre. I’ve never come across anything like this before. Mr Junor is unable to provide any explanation for why he did this.
“He didn’t need the money as he was on benefits at the time. He seems to have taken a notion to rob the shop and he went away and tied together these two pipes to give the impression to the witnesses that he was in possession of a shotgun.”
Mr Moggach told the court that his client did suffer from anxiety and depression.
Prosecutor Chris McKenna added that Junor was given a 78-month sentence in September 2010 for the culpable homicide of Martyn Stewart, 28, in November 2009 in Peterhead.
On that occasion, Junor and his co-accused Elaine Young – then aged 24 – wanted to get heroin from the victim but a fight ensued and Junor stabbed Mr Stewart fatally in the heart.
Judge Lord Sandison jailed Junor for five years, discounted from seven-and-a-half given his guilty plea.
He told him: “The staff of this shop ought to be able to go about their business without being threatened by you.
“These workers were left terrified by your actions.”
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