A drunken man who left a 12-year-old girl in tears after demanding money from a shop assistant was this week jailed for a total of eight months.
The child ran out of The Late Shop in Galashiels crying after Andrew Dale shouted and swore in the Scott Street store.
Dale,27, of George Street, Peebles, who was on an ASBO (antisocial behaviour order) at the time, pleaded guilty to behaving in an abusive manner at the shop and in a police vehicle travelling between Galashiels and Hawick on February 19.
Prosecutor Tessa Bradley said Dale went into the shop at 6.15pm.
“He handed the shop assistant a piece of paper and demanded he phone the numbers on it. He also repeatedly said, ‘give me the money’, although it is unclear exactly what he was trying to achieve, such was his state of intoxication,” she told Sheriff Derrick McIntyre, adding: “There was no threat of violence, but he did cause concern.”
Dale was told to leave the shop, which had customers, but returned shortly after.
“A 12-year-old girl went into the shop and heard customers speaking about someone who had been drunk and abusive,” continued Ms Bradley.
As the youngster was being served, Dale came back into the shop and again started demanding money. “His voice was raised and he was swearing, and this alarmed the girl who ran back outside in tears to her mother’s car,” said the prosecutor.
Selkirk Sheriff Court heard that after being arrested, the accused was taken to Borders General Hospital because of his state of intoxication and his behaviour did not improve on the way.
Dale’s reply to caution was: “B*****ks … what are you taking about?”
His lawyer, Ross Dow, said his client had just been released from a prison sentence.
Mr Dow went on: “He is almost institutionalised and a prison sentence does not concern him. He feels at home there. He finds it easier to cope inside rather than on the outside.
“There was no robbery and no violence, and the shop assistant said he did not threaten him.”
Describing the crime as “bizarre”, the solicitor added: “It was very strange, and he was seen as a bit of a nuisance. He was told to go, as there were customers there, and he did. He was off his face on drink.”
Imposing a jail term of five months for the offence and ordering that he serve three months of an unexpired sentence, the sheriff told Dale: “I don’t see why people should have to put up with this.”