A thief walked into B&Q with an empty trolley, loaded it up with paint and flooring, and then tried to claim a refund for the items.
When staff refused the refund Robert Riddoch then tried to walk out of the Garthdee store with the unpurchased items.
The 36-year-old also threatened to stab the workers when they confronted him.
Fiscal depute David Rogers told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened just after 3pm on September 6 2022.
He said Riddoch, with a trolley loaded with laminate flooring and paint, approached an employee and “made enquiries about returning the items”.
The member of staff told Riddoch he would need a receipt and he walked off.
Suspicious staff followed him outside and asked if he could produce a receipt for the items.
‘His is a life that has been devastated by drugs’
Riddoch then became “aggressive” and there was a scuffle as he tried to wrestle control of the trolley away from workers who had tried to stop him from leaving with it.
Riddoch told one employee: “Let the trolley go or I’ll stab you.”
When another staff member attended, Riddoch adopted a “fighting stance”.
He repeated the stabbing threat and added: “I f****** paid for it, you c****.”
Police later checked CCTV which confirmed Riddoch had entered with an empty trolley and left with it loaded with £154 worth of flooring and paint.
Riddoch, of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to theft by shoplifting and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner over the incident.
He also admitted stealing £57.74 of groceries from McColl’s on Hayton Road on September 2 2022.
He further pled guilty to shoplifting vodka and tobacco worth £44 from Lintmill Shoppy on Lintmill Terrace on October 17, and £60 of cigarettes from Budgens, Oldmeldrum Road, on October 29.
Riddoch also pled guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at Budgens on the same date.
‘This course of conduct is too serious for that’
And Riddoch was also found guilty after a trial of robbing the BP petrol station on King Street of a quantity of cigarettes on October 22.
Defence agent John McLeod said: “His is a life that has been devastated by drugs.
“It’s far from the case that being remanded in prison means he is no longer able to access drugs.”
The solicitor said there may be “longer-term value” in ordering a drug treatment and testing order assessment to assist Riddoch in overcoming his addictions.
He added his client is “fed up to the back teeth” of being sent to custody again and again.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin told Riddoch: “I’m not persuaded it’s appropriate to release you into the community for that assessment.
“This course of conduct is too serious for that.”
Instead, she ordered Riddoch to be jailed for 27 months and imposed a 12-month supervised release order.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.
