Man jailed for 18-months for attempted robbery, assault in Inverness C-stores

An armed man, who tried to hold up two convenience stores in Inverness, has been jailed for 18 months. 

According to local reports, courts have awarded an 18-month jail sentence to Jason Ryan, terrorised the staff of two convenience stores in Inverness while assaulting one in February this year.  

Inverness Sheriff Court was told how the 49-year-old used a screwdriver at employees of a store in the city’s Lochalsh Road and made violent threats to two female members of staff there. Seeing the altercation, a customer, who just happened to be in the store, jumped on him to stop his attempted robbery. 

Ryan was trying to buy alcohol outside the permitted hours and was warned by staff before he brandished the screwdriver and delivered his threats. 

During the scuffle he assaulted one woman. The court was told that she fell backwards and hit her head on a counter top in the shop. 

Ryan was also found to have behaved in a threatening and abusive manner towards the customer in the shop who intervened and successfully put an end to his attempted robbery. He was found guilty of struggling with her and threatening her, telling her that he had another screwdriver on his person in addition to the one he was brandishing. 

The court was told that Ryan tried to pull a similar stunt at the Spar shop in the city’s Thornbush Road, also on the same date – February 18 – where he used a “pointed item” to threaten a member of the store’s staff. 

Ryan had denied the charges but was convicted after trial by a jury. 

Overall Ryan was charged with two attempted robbery charges – one aggravated by assault – and the threatening behaviour offence Ryan was also found guilty of being in possession of a weapon in a public place without reasonable excuse. He was remanded in custody following the trial.