Carjacker left woman, 57, terrified and screaming

A WOMAN fell victim to an armed carjacker as she sat at a set of traffic lights in Edinburgh late at night, a court heard.

Linda Haggarty, 57, was waiting for the lights to change when the man, brandishing a handgun, opened the driver’s door and ordered her from the vehicle.

He drove away, leaving her terrified and screaming for help. The car was found abandoned a short time later, but Ms Haggarty’s purse had been stolen.

Paul Purves, 27, admitted assaulting and robbing Ms Haggarty on 1 September, 2008, at East Mayfield, Newington, and failing to attend a court hearing in June 2009. He had jumped bail and fled the country. He will be sentenced next month.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told that Ms Haggarty was alone in her car about 10pm when she stopped at a red light at the junction of East Mayfield and Dalkeith Road. Purves pointed an air pistol at her and shouted at her to get out of the car.

Police found the car nearby and Ms Haggarty’s handbag was recovered from a garden. The contents, including her purse, had been taken. The weapon, which resembled a Glock semi-automatic pistol, was found in undergrowth at a local church.

Officers received information and detained Purves.

He was later released on bail, and went to Ireland, where he was arrested on a European warrant and returned to Scotland in April this year.