A man who carried out a “frightening” knife-point robbery at his local shop has been jailed for more than three years.
Robert Livingstone, 27, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted robbing Spar with a bread knife before making off with alcohol and four packets of Chewits.
Livingstone was such a regular at the shop the woman behind the counter thought he was joking when he demanded she empty the till, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
She only realised he was serious when he pulled the eight-inch blade from his waistband.
His solicitor told the court that Livingstone suffers from mental health problems and had been suffering from a “crack-cocaine induced psychosis” at the time.
‘Give me the money in the till’
Fiscal depute David Rogers told the court that at around 2.45pm on January 9 2022 a worker at the St Machar Drive shop saw Livingstone, whom she “recognised as a regular customer”, enter.
He then approached the till area and said to the woman: “Give me the money in the till.”
Initially, the woman thought this was a joke, but Livingstone reached inside his waistband and pulled out a large knife.
Livingstone then repeated his demand.
Mr Rogers told the court: “The complainer activated the assistance alarm and took a step back from the accused, at which time he thrust the knife towards her in a stabbing motion in the general area of her torso, but no contact was made.”
Livingstone then tried to force open the till with his left hand, which was unsuccessful.
A male member of staff who’d heard the assistance bell ring attended at the front of the shop where he saw Livingstone standing with a knife.
He ordered Livingstone to leave but he did not move.
Both staff members then retreated to the rear of the store where they kept watch of Livingstone via the live CCTV footage.
Livingstone was seen taking items from the alcohol and confectionary shelves before leaving the store.
Aberdeen Spar robber caught close by
Police were searching the streets for Livingstone when they saw him enter the communal hallway of a block of flats on Seaton Drive.
He was found to have two bottles of Echo Falls wine, a bottle of apple cider and four packets of Chewits.
The total value of the items taken was £12.81.
In the dock, Livingstone pleaded guilty to one charge of assault by brandishing a knife near the shop worker’s body.
He also admitted a second charge of being in possession of a knife.
Behaviour ‘seemed out of character’
Defence solicitor John Hardie stated that his client’s actions that day were “clearly a matter of enormous seriousness”.
However, the lawyer also stated that he had “serious concerns” about Livingstone after learning of this incident because it “seemed out of character”.
“He had been already seeking psychological assistance and his doctor has stated that at that time he probably did not understand the difference between right and wrong,” Mr Hardie said.
Mr Hardie also stated that Livingstone had been taking crack cocaine at the time, which his client had claimed gave him a form of “crack cocaine psychosis”.
“He has no recollection of this incident at all,” he said. “Other than that, it’s a serious matter and he knows it’s a serious matter.”
Sheriff Graham Buchanan told Livingstone that he considered this a “very serious offence” that would have been a “very frightening experience” for the shop assistants who encountered him.
“You were brandishing a knife and pushing it towards the complainer’s body and that would have been very frightening,” he said.
The sheriff added that he took Livingstone’s mental health concerns into consideration, along with his previous convictions, but due to the seriousness of the offending he felt he “could only impose a period of imprisonment”.
Sheriff Buchanan sentenced Livingstone, of Seaton Drive, Aberdeen, to three years and one month in prison.
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