by Craig Borland

A TEENAGER involved in an attempted robbery at the Clydebank Co-op store in Dalmuir has been spared a prison sentence – by the narrowest of margins.

The 16-year-old girl, who can’t be named for legal reasons, went to the store in Dunn Street wearing a pair of blue latex gloves along with a teenaged male who was also wearing gloves and was armed with a knife.

A court hearing on Thursday was told that two people matching the description of the girl and her co-conspirator had been seen on CCTV leaving the nearby Overtoun Court flats – and covering a security camera with a hand as they did so.

Fiscal depute Sarah Healing told Dumbarton Sheriff Court the duo had gone from the flat to the shop on the evening of September 13 and confronted a young staff member in the store, where they repeatedly told her to open the till.

Ms Healing said: “They told the assistant to hand over 100 Mayfair cigarettes. She was understandably terrified but was unable to find the panic button to press it.

“The assistant shouted for help. A colleague looked at CCTV footage and saw two individuals with their hoods up leaving the store. She spoke to the assistant, who was visibly shaken and upset.”

Ms Healing said the pair had then returned to the flat they had come from and had told the householder, a relative of the accused: “We just tried to hold up the Co-op and we ran away.”

Ms Healing said the pair had told the householder that they carried out the hold-up for money to put down a deposit on a flat.

The other teenager was traced by police and was made the subject of separate court proceedings.

At that stage, Ms Healing said, the girl was only being viewed by police as a witness, but that position changed after she gave a statement to officers the following day.

Ms Healing continued: “She said, ‘If he’s getting charged, I want charged – I was with him all day yesterday. If he’s getting kept I better get kept, otherwise I’m going to go out and cause carnage’. In the early hours of September 15 she was interviewed under caution.

“She made no comment to practically all of the questions put to her, but did admit to ownership of the blue latex gloves, indicating she had taken them from Dumbarton health centre the day before.”

Kenny Clark, defending, said his client’s memory of what had happened and when was limited.

“To some extent her recollection of events, and the exact sequence of events, is befuddled by Valium,” Mr Clark told the court. “But she does accept responsibility for her actions.

“She says she wasn’t coerced, but I think it would be fair to say she was prevailed upon and drawn into the situation. She would not have done something like this off her own back, but acknowledges she played a significant and active role in events.”

Mr Clark told the court that what his client reportedly said to her relative about aiming to steal money for a deposit was “simply untrue”.

“They were in the shop for a total of 30 seconds,” Mr Clark added. “That doesn’t excuse her actions, and it doesn’t restrict the alarm caused to the member of staff on being confronted.

“She was plainly under the influence of her co-accused at that time. He is older than her and has considerably more experience of the court system.”

Mr Clark said he believed that “exceptional circumstances” applied in the case, and said that anyone reading about the matter would understand what those circumstances were.

Sheriff Gallacher replied: “This wasn’t spontaneous. This was planned. I imposed a sentence of six years on her co-accused.”

Turning to address the girl directly, the sheriff said: “This was a disgraceful act on a young girl who was doing her job. It was an offence of the utmost gravity. It had a significant impact on the person at the time.

“This was deliberate, planned and contemplated obtaining and use of a weapon and a serious attempt to obtain property. People must know it will not be accepted or tolerated. By the narrowest of margins I have decided I can avoid a custodial sentence on you.”

The girl was placed under social work supervision for two years, ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work – the maximum allowed – within 12 months, and given a nine-month curfew which will keep her inside her address in Dumbarton between 7pm and 7am.

Sheriff Gallacher asked for a review of the order to call in court on May 26 – and warned the girl that she would be jailed on that date if she had failed comply with the order “to the letter”.