Attacker burst into tears before blaming robbery on boyfriend

A MAN who had carried out a terrifying knifepoint robbery on a female shopkeeper burst into tears and blamed his boyfriend when he was cornered in the grounds of a convent.

Paul Fegan, 31, attacked Gillian Stuart, 58, in the specialist toy shop she had just opened. The trauma has since forced her to give up the business.

Minutes after the raid, Fegan made a tearful telephone call to his partner and said: "I have been caught and I done it for you."

Yesterday, Fegan, of New Arthur Place, Edinburgh was jailed for six years and three months. He admitted assaulting and robbing Ms Stuart on 17 December last year in her Creme de la Creche shop in Lauriston Place, Edinburgh.

Advocate-depute Morag Jack told the High Court in Edinburgh that Ms Stuart had opened the shop only ten days earlier to sell luxury toys and collectors' dolls.

Fegan pretended he was buying a present for a nephew, but produced a knife and held it to Ms Stuart's neck. She struggled and was cut on the hand. He then pushed her to the floor and kicked and punched her before grabbing her bag and fleeing.

Two men, alerted by Ms Stuart's screams, chased Fegan but lost him. They then spotted him hiding behind a bush in the grounds of a convent. When confronted, he told his pursuers: "I'm sorry, my boyfriend made me do it," and started to cry.

Defence counsel, Ronnie Renucci, said: "He was in a relationship which was causing him some stress."