A shoplifter who was chased by security staff at Sainsbury’s in Dundee threatened to stab one of them as he dropped a needle on the ground outside the store.
Richard Rattray then told one of them, a former schoolmate, that he knew who he was and said: “I’m going to come back and stab you.”
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that Rattray, 28, a prisoner at Perth, is serving a 20-month sentence and is on deferred sentence until March 25 next year.
He pleaded guilty last month to a number of dishonesty crimes on indictment.
He also has previous convictions for road traffic offences, breaches of court orders, culpable and reckless conduct, breaches of the peace and possession of drugs with intent to supply.
Rattray admitted that on June 14, at Sainsbury’s, Baldovie Road, he stole five bottles of vodka, while on bail.
He also admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, causing fear and alarm, threatened to stab Lee Taylor, an employee, while disposing of a needle, also while on bail.
Solicitor Larry Flynn told the court Rattray had actually been holding a pen and the needle had fallen out of his pocket as he was being chased.
He said Rattray’s earliest date of release was April 7 next year and asked Sheriff Elizabeth Munro to defer sentence until the same date as the previous case to await a report from the prison governor.
Sheriff Munro told Rattray she was very concerned about the second charge and said it was “particularly serious”.
She added that whatever the outcome of the governor’s report and a social work report she was also requesting: “This combination of offences is too serious to do anything other than impose a prison sentence and any sentence I gave you today would run consecutively to your current sentence.
“But I will defer sentence until March 25 to find out what’s going on with you and with the governor’s report.”