The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Perth businessman is threatened by driver holding screwdriver
Grand Italia owner told he’d get ‘smashed’ in parking space row
A well-known Perth businessman has told how he was threatened with a screwdriver during an incident in the city centre.
Restaurateur Mario Diana was left shaken after a man and his family turned on him when he tried to access his private parking space, off George Street.
The shaken Grand Italia owner was told by one would-be assailant that he would “smash” him in the face.
Mr Diana eventually drove on, after the group refused to move, and reported the matter to police.
He said: “I would have let it go had he not threatened me with the screwdriver.”
A police spokeswoman confirmed they are investigating the incident.
A Perth businessman claims he was threatened with a screwdriver during a road rage incident in Perth.
Mario Diana, who owns Grand Italia in George Street, was trying to access his private parking space to the rear of the restaurant when he found his way blocked by another vehicle.
Unable to squeeze his tiny Fiat 500 through the gap on George Inn Lane, Mr Diana said he asked the driver several times to move, only to be ignored. His third and final plea resulted in the threat.
During the argument, the driver was joined by a boy and girl from a nearby building, who also entered the fray.
The incident, which happened yesterday morning, left the restaurateur shaken.
He said: “I came up in my car and there was a car obstructing access. I realised that if he was in the car he was waiting for someone. He was parked in such a way that even if I had gone on the pavement I wouldn’t have got through.
“I asked the guy to move it because he was on double yellow lines. He ignored me and after three attempts I opened the door and told him to move and he showed me a screwdriver – he was threatening me.
“I really wasn’t expecting him to react like that. He told me to park elsewhere, but why should I when I have a space?
“His family came out of Navigate, there was a boy and a girl, and they were calling me a name repeatedly.
“The boy told me: ‘If you don’t move your car in five seconds I’m going to smash your face’, and at that point I called the police.
“I moved my car after I got a picture of the number plate. I would have let it go had he not threatened me with the screwdriver.”
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “We attended at George Inn Lane, Perth following a report of an incident involving a vehicle at 10.30am on Tuesday morning.”
I really wasn’t expecting him to react like that. MARIO DIANA