An Aberdeen man has been jailed after he subjected a woman to a terrifying attempted robbery as she returned home from work.
Shaun Rose, 45, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted sneaking into the woman’s block of flats and approaching her while stating he had a knife.
As Rose reached out and grabbed her handbag, the woman bravely tussled with him.
Thankfully, a member of the public heard the woman’s screams and went to her aid and Rose promptly fled the property.
‘I have a knife’
Fiscal depute David Ballock told the court that at around 9.40pm on August 13 last year, the woman got off a bus on Union Street and walked towards her flat on South Silver Street.
The woman opened the entrance door and entered the communal area but did not hear the entrance door close behind her.
Unknown to her, Rose had followed her up the street and placed his foot inside the door to stop it from closing.
As the woman approached the internal security door she saw Rose enter the building where he announced to her: “I have a knife”.
The woman turned and saw Rose approach and walk to within inches of her, where he again repeated that he had a knife.
“The accused then grabbed the strap of her handbag and a struggle ensued, during the course of which, the woman began to scream,” Mr Ballock said.
“A passerby who had noticed the accused enter the block of flats approached upon hearing the scream and saw the accused pulling at the complainer’s handbag.
“He told the accused to leave.
“The accused let go of the handbag and stated that the complainer was his girlfriend and that they were just having an argument.”
The man then insisted that Rose leave the building, which he did do and walked onto Diamond Street.
However, when the man went back outside, he found Rose standing waiting on Diamond Street and told him to leave the area before going back inside the building to assist the woman.
Appearing in the dock, Rose pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted robbery.
He also admitted a charge of breaching a non-harassment order and a bail condition by approaching his former partner.
Accused is ‘hypersensitive’ about what his family will think
Defence solicitor Bruce MacDonald told the court that his client is “thoroughly ashamed” of this incident and “hypersensitive” about what his family will think.
“Thankfully, the woman was not physically harmed but one can only imagine how mentally she was affected.
“Mr Rose was considerably under the influence at the time, he followed her into this tenement and there was a struggle.
“He did not actually have a knife but he gave the impression he had a knife.”
Describing the attempted robbery charge as “particularly serious”, Sheriff Andrew Miller told Rose that it was only due to the “intervention of a passerby” that the incident didn’t become even more serious.
He also called Rose’s other offences “appalling”.
Sheriff Miller sentenced Rose, of Skene Street, Aberdeen, to a total of 20 months in prison.
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