A distraught mum in Dundee watched a horrifying attack on her son through his Ring doorbell camera in Stirling.
Margaret Laird was visiting family in Dundee when her mobile phone app showed live video of masked knifeman Michael Higgins beating and attempting to rob her son Jordan at his home near Stirling.
Throughout the ordeal, she could hear Mr Laird being hit and “screaming in pain”.
Higgins – who was high on magic mushrooms at the time – fled after Mrs Laird shouted at him through the camera speaker.
Stirling Sheriff Court heard of further violent scenes when 34-year-old Higgins was later traced by police.
He threw a TV at them before getting tasered twice.
Ordered to hand over ‘everything’
Higgins appeared via video link from HMP Low Moss and admitted assaulting Mr Laird to his injury and attempting to rob him at his home in The Braes, Bannockburn, on October 18 last year.
Prosecutor James Moncrieff said victim Jordan Laird led a “chaotic lifestyle”.
“Due to concerns about his wellbeing, his mother Margaret Laird installed a Ring doorbell camera at his address,” he added.
The security camera was fitted inside Mr Laird’s hallway, focusing on his front door.
On October 18, Mrs Laird travelled to Dundee to meet family, the fiscal depute said.
Just before 9pm, her Ring app sent her a notification about activity at her son’s front door.
Using the app, she viewed the hallway and could hear the door being kicked by a man making threats outside.
She recognised Higgins’ voice.
Mrs Laird then saw her son in the lobby and heard him say: “Stop, I’ll open the door.”
Mr Moncrieff said: “The accused was then seen walking through the front door.
“He had his hood up, was wearing a balaclava and could be seen holding a large kitchen knife.”
Higgins pushed Mr Laird by the neck into his living room and out of sight of the camera.
Mrs Laird heard her son getting hit and “screaming in pain.”
Victim ordered to pay up
Higgins told him to hand over “everything he had.”
“Mrs Laird was aware that her son only had £20 to last him until pay day,” the fiscal depute said.
“Watching this caused her a great deal of distress.”
She then used the app to shout directly into the flat, telling Higgins to “get away” and told him police were on their way.
Higgins then struck Mr Laird twice while holding the knife, before running out of the property.
Once he disappeared, Mrs Laird watched her son stand up and could see his face was bloody and swollen.
He told his mum he had been stabbed.
Stabbing claims
When police arrived, Mr Laird told them: “It’s obvious what happened.
“I opened the door and some guy came flying through.”
Asked by officers if he had been stabbed, he replied: “Aye, in the head, with a knife.”
He refused to say anything about the perpetrator and declined to have his injuries photographed or his clothes forensically analysed.
Mr Laird was taken by ambulance to Forth Valley Hospital where he had his bruises and swelling treated.
Doctors found no fractures and he did not appear to have been stabbed.
Two days later, police received a tip-off about Higgins’ whereabouts.
They arrived at The Firs, Bannockburn, and saw him standing at the top of stairs in a communal close.
“He threw a TV set at police, which missed them by inches,” said Mr Moncrieff.
Higgins shouted “taser me,” and lashed out at officers.
It took two hits from the police taser to bring him to the ground, where he was handcuffed and arrested.
Jail time
Solicitor Ken Danning, defending, said his client had been “trying to change his ways.”
“But around this time he was introduced to magic mushrooms,” he added.
“It was two weeks of madness which he has little recollection of.”
Higgins, who is unemployed, accepted responsibility for the attack, Mr Danning said.
“He accepts that only custody can be imposed to deal with this matter.”
Sheriff Keith O’Mahoney told Higgins: “Having regard to the nature of this offence, there is no alternative to a custodial disposal.”
Higgins was jailed for 28 months.
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