Hearts legend’s son faces assault and robbery trial

Ryan Mackay, 24, has denied robbing the pensioner in Clovenstone Park during an appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week.

Mackay was arrested by police investigating the mugging of Mahmud Amjad, who was allegedly attacked near to the Londis Convenience Store on February 7.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of seizing hold of Mr Amjad’s bag, pushing him to the body causing him to fall to the ground, and robbing him of the bag which contained £11,435.

Mackay, whose address was given in court as Colinton Mains Crescent, now faces trial for the alleged assault and robbery in February. He was arrested by police investigating the incident in March following a public appeal for information in the Evening News.

At the time, police said the victim had just left his store when a man approached him at around 11am, pushed him to the ground and stole the money before fleeing towards Harvesters Way. A police spokesman described the incident as “a particularly nasty assault and robbery on an elderly male, who is well liked within the local community”.

A Crown Office spokesman confirmed Mackay would next appear in court on February 21.

Mackay was born in June 1987 while his footballer father was still at Hearts. His mother, Vicky Duff, was the ex-player’s former partner.

Gary Mackay, 47, played for Hearts between 1980 and 1997, and still holds the record for the most competitive appearances for the club with 640. He left the Tynecastle side in 1997 to play for Airdrie and later managed them for a season, but the club suffered severe financial problems and he was sacked to make way for Steve Archibald in July 2000.

Mackay, who picked up four international caps with Scotland, has since worked as an agent, representing players including Garry O’Connor, Christophe Berra and Lee Wallace. He also acts as agent for controversial Hearts defender Craig Thomson, who was recently convicted of sexual offences against two under-age girls.

In June, it was revealed that Mackay was considering legal action against Hearts after an astonishing online rant from the club.

Mackay was accused of being part of a mafia of “crooks, criminals and thieves” in a statement issued by the club – and sanctioned by owner Vladimir Romanov – in the aftermath of the Thomson sex case.

The former midfielder, an occasional critic of Romanov, had been subject to public rants from the Tynecastle hierarchy before and had for the most part shrugged them off.