DNA traps robber for garage raids

A FEMALE garage worker told an armed robber to "p*** off" and ran away from him, a court heard yesterday.

Craig Stevens, 23, had raided the same filling station only days earlier and had threatened a male assistant with a 10in-long bread knife.

And when he sneaked up on June Campbell as she worked alone in the shop and menaced her with the weapon, she told him she would get money from the till.

However, she shouted at him and locked herself in the office and dialled 999. He grabbed some notes and fled before the police arrived.

Stevens, an unemployed labourer, of Farrier Court, Kelso, admitted three similar robberies when he masked his face and armed himself with the knife.

On 30 May last year, he escaped with 530 from Somerfield, in Croft Road, Hawick. On 13 August, he got 90 at the Shell Garage, in Edinburgh Road, Jedburgh, and another 89.70 on 24 August in spite of Ms Campbell's attempt to thwart him.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told that Stevens had been caught after a farmer found clothing and a knife in woods, and scientists discovered his DNA on a pair of jeans.

He will be sentenced later.