A MAN has pleaded guilty to putting shop staff through two "appalling" ordeals in the capital after he held up a petrol station and a bookmakers with an imitation gun.
Barry Shepherd, 40, carried out the raids in January on a filling station and bookmaker in the Ferry Road area of Edinburgh in January this year.
Police immediately launched a manhunt, putting out his image from CCTV footage, and the following month he surrendered to officers in Fife.
After Shepherd admitted two counts of armed robbery at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, Detective Inspector Grant Johnston from Edinburgh CID said: “In committing these two robberies, Shepherd put his victims through an appalling ordeal.
“He showed no regard for their wellbeing, and used an imitation weapon to purposefully frighten those he robbed.
“Thankfully crimes of this nature remain rare but will not be tolerated when they occur and we will use all resources at our disposal to bring those responsible to justice.”
The betting shop raid was thwarted when a worker refused to accept his demand and challenged Shepherd to shoot him, when he believed the weapon was an imitation.
In the garage raid, Shepherd escaped with £400.
Police late received information that the man in the CCTV images was Shepherd and when they traced a landlady at an address where he had lived she said he had shown her a ball bearing pistol.
Shepherd turned up at at Levenmouth police station on February 12 saying he knew the police were looking for him.
Judge Lady Scott deferred sentence on Shepherd for the preparation of a background report and remanded him in custody.
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