Manused knife to demand £1,000 in city shop

A would-be robber told a worker at an Aberdeen corner shop that he had a gun in his bag as he brandished a knife and demanded £1,000 in cash.

Brian Forbes was a regular customer at L&M Stores on Hutcheon Street so employee Chaudhry Khan initially thought nothing untoward about his visit at 5.50am on Friday, August 17.

However, Mr Khan was left stunned when the 42-year-old placed a handwritten note on the counter demanding cash.

Forbes appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.

Fiscal Jamie Dunbar,

“The accused kept saying ‘money, money’”

said: “The accused took an envelope out of his bag, which contained a long note.

“Mr Khan only read the last part of it, which said ‘I need £1,000’.

“The accused kept saying ‘money, money’ and took a yellow duster out of his bag, and stated there was a knife in the cloth.

“When the worker refused to give him any money, Forbes put his hand back in the bag and said he had a gun in there.”

The court heard that the accused then showed Mr Khan the lock-knife he had, but fled when a panic alarm was set off.

The police traced him at his home about two hours later, and arrested him.

Forbes later admitted charges of attempted robbery and of possessing a knife in a public place “without reasonable excuse”.

Sheriff William Summers agreed to defer sentence on Forbes, who appeared on remand from HMP Grampian, until next month.

He said there was “more than a strong possibility” of him being sent to jail.