Bookie shop robbery followed by vicious street attack
A man was robbed of his wallet in a Kirkcaldy bookie shop, managed to get it back after a struggle and then was violently assaulted in a nearby street.
Leslie Fraser (30), a prisoner at Perth, has been jailed for two years as a result of the incident.
He admitted that on 16th January at Betfred, High Street, Kirkcaldy, he stole a wallet containing a sum of money.
He also admitted that on the same day, at Hunter Place, he assaulted a man by pushing him against a wall, repeatedly punching him on the head and body, pulled him to the ground, sat on top of him, seized him by the hair and dragged him along the ground, repeatedly kicked him on the body, seized a mobile phone from him when he was attempting to contact the police, demanded money from him, all to his injury and attempted to rob him of a sum of money.
Depute fiscal Sarah Lumsden told Dunfermline Sheriff Court that at 5.30pm the victim went into the bookies shop and Fraser greeted him saying ‘Alright?’
They had known each other for around 10 years.
Fraser grabbed the man’s wallet as he took it out to play a fruit machine and a struggle took place with staff hearing the commotion.
When the man managed to get his wallet and he pursued Fraser out of the taxi to the area of the bus station where he got into the taxi. However, after the victim spoke to the cabbie he would not drive away.
Fraser then got out the car and launched a vicious attack. He pushed him against a wall and started punching him before dragging him along the ground by the hair.
A witness heard the victim screaming and shouting, “Get off me”.
Fraser grabbed the victim’s phone as he tried to call the police. He also continued trying to get into the man’s pocket saying, “You owe me £200.”
Defence solicitor David Bell said, “They are both around the same age and know each other through the drugs scene.”
He added that there had been a dispute over payment for a gold bracelet sold by his client.
Sheriff Craig McSherry jailed Fraser for two years, backdated to 17th January when he was taken into custody.
