Teenager gets chance to move on after toilet roll robbery bid in Wick
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A TEENAGER who staged a hold-up at a Wick shop has been given a chance by a sheriff to leave his “chaotic, drug-fuelled lifestyle” behind him.
The 16-year-old was remitted to the Children’s Panel by Sheriff Andrew Berry who cautioned that the sentence shouldn’t be regarded as “a soft option”.
The youth was only 15 when he walked into Malcolm’s newsagents in Kinnaird Street, Wick, on September 4 last year armed with a knife.
His disguise took the form of a hood of his jacket pulled over his head which was wrapped in what appeared to be toilet roll.
Unfazed by the sinister appearance, shop assistant Evelyn Farquhar calmly took him to task, telling him to shed his disguise while he was in the shop.
The youth ignored the instruction and proceeded to make a demand: “I have a knife...empty the cash register.”
It didn’t frighten Ms Farquhar who replied: “I don’t think so."
The teenager – who cannot be named as he is under the age of 18 – then abandoned his robbery bid and left the shop. He was later identified by police and arrested. Now 16, he previously admitted the attempted robbery.
When he appeared for sentence at Wick on Thursday, Sheriff Berry considered reports from the social work department and the Children’s Panel which supported his decision to refer the youth to the latter agency.
Solicitor Patrick O’ Dea said the accused wanted to make a fresh start and went on: “He no longer looks like someone engaged in a chaotic, drug-fuelled lifestyle. He was in a difficult situation but stopped taking drugs four weeks ago.”
Mr O’Dea said that the teenager's mother had pledged to “do better by him”. The accused had taken up dog-walking and his lifestyle was more stable. He had also distanced himself from bad company which was now banned from entering the family home.
The solicitor added: “The accused knows that if he does not co-operate with those trying to help him, he will be remitted back to this court and a custodial sentence will be uppermost in your honour’s mind. He will have no-one to blame but himself."
The lady assistant in the shop would be entitled to think that remitting you to the Children’s Panel is a soft option.
Sheriff Berry said that the charge was “an extremely serious one” which in any case of its kind would attract a custodial sentence in terms of years rather than months.
He told the teenager: “It is very important to try to deal with such a case in a way that won’t prevent you from having a law-abiding life. There are some cases where there is no alternative to a period of detention and this one has come very close to that.
"I have to acknowledge the fact that the lady assistant in the shop on the day in question where you demanded money would be entitled to think that remitting you to the Children’s Panel is a soft option and is something I should not do.
"I would understand her thinking that. Lots of other people may think the same. But of course I have the benefit of very helpful reports and I don’t simply look at several options for the sake of doing so.”
The sheriff said that the accused had got off to a good start in terms of his behaviour in recent weeks and months and that his mother’s contribution was “positive, not negative”.
He added that the youth was “entitled to a life looking forward” and an opportunity to get himself on the right track.
