Man admits 'armed' city hold-ups

The court heard Cooney was staying with a friend in Dundee

A man who held up an off-licence using a toy gun before attempting a second robbery claimed he carried them out after falling on hard times.

Brian Cooney struck at a branch of Haddows in Dundee and again at a Cheque Centre outlet in the city.

At the High Court in Aberdeen, Cooney, 32, admitted assault and robbery at the Hilltown off-licence in May this year.

He further admitted assaulting a woman at the Cheque Centre the following month and will be sentenced later.

The court heard that Cooney, originally from the Manchester area, had been staying with a friend in Dundee who he met while working in Fuerteventura, in the Canary Islands.

After stealing an imitation handgun belonging to his friend's son, he robbed the off-licence on the night of 18 May, removing £147 from the till drawer.

Cooney later entered the Cheque Centre and told a female assistant: "Give me all the money."

'Incompetent' robberies

She returned with a box containing £25,000 but Cooney had disappeared.

He was stopped by police several days later after being recognised from CCTV footage, and said he needed money to get back to Fuerteventura.

Defence-advocate Jack Brown described the incidents as "relatively hare-brained schemes".

"Both robberies were carried out with an ever increasing level of incompetence," he said.

Judge Lord Macphail deferred sentence on Cooney, who also admitted stealing an imitation firearm and two charges of possessing an imitation firearm, for background reports.