Armed robber's sentence increased to five years

A masked robber who threatened an Aberdeen shop worker with a large knife and scissors has had his "unduly lenient" sentence increased.

John Gallagher, 50, was caught by passing police officers as he fled the shop on Urquhart Road on 2 July 2024 and jailed for three and a half years in December.

Crown lawyers went to the Court of Criminal Appeal earlier this month arguing the offence was aggravated by Gallagher's lengthy criminal record in England and Scotland.

In a written judgement published by the court, judges increased the sentence to five years followed by three years supervision, saying courts must deter offending against shop workers.

During the sentencing last year, advocate depute David Dickson said Gallagher produced a knife, demanded money, and made stabbing motions towards the victim.

The woman made a 999 call as Gallagher grabbed packets of cigarettes, and managed to pull the balaclava from his head.

The call operator heard Gallagher saying: "Give me the cigarettes. Open it, open it or I'll stab you. Open it now."

The shopkeeper was heard saying: "I don't know how to open the till."

As he fled the shop, Gallagher "ran into the arms" of police officers who were on patrol and had noticed a disturbance. They received a message alerting them to the robbery as they entered the shop.

Scotland's second most senior judge, the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Beckett, sitting with Lord Doherty and Lord Matthews, heard arguments appealing the sentence from prosecutor Mark Mohammed KC.

Mr Mohammed said it was a planned robbery committed when the accused was masked and armed with a large knife and a pair of scissors and the woman was not able to escape.

He argued that the offence was aggravated by Gallagher's lengthy criminal record, which included a seven-year sentence for armed robbery given to him at Liverpool Crown Court in 2012.

He said: "The Crown's submission is that the sentencing judge failed to give adequate weight to the seriousness of the offence."

Gallagher's lawyer Sarah Loosemore said a sentence of five years' imprisonment selected by Lord Summers before he applied a discount for the guilty plea was within the range of sentences for the offence.

However, in a written judgement published by the court, Lord Beckett upheld the submissions made by Mr Mohammed, commenting that the woman was working alone and there were no other customers.

"Such a person can be vulnerable to the kind of attack featuring in this case," he said.

He added: "The courts must do what they can to deter such offending.

"Shop staff and other workers who provide services or amenities to the public must be protected from someone such as the respondent who decided to rob a shop, armed himself, donned a mask and sought to terrorise a shop-worker with a large and dangerous knife and, in this case, also a pair of scissors."