Sentence criticised as Fife pair jailed

A DUNFERMLINE shopkeeper who fought off a machete-wielding robber has criticised the sentence handed down to his assailants.

Father- of- four Sakander Riaz struggled with a masked raider and wrestled the machete from his grasp as he fought for his life.

At the High Court in Perth yesterday, the two drug addicts who attacked the shopkeeper with a metal bar and a machete in his shop were jailed for a total of 8½ years. Kieran Pearson received 4½ years, Samuel Craig was given four.

Pearson and Craig attacked Mr Riaz at Omar Groceries on Alexandra Street in Dunfermline on September 29 last year, leaving him permanently disfigured.

The pair had earlier admitted the offence at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Mr Riaz, 33, told The Courier: “I am very disappointed at the length of the sentences. I expected more. After good behaviour they will probably be out in 2½ years.

“I thought they should get more than that. I could have lost my life.”

Mr Riaz, who has had the shop for 10 years, said he was so pumped up on adrenaline that he did not feel a four-inch slash on his hand as he chased the thieves.

They got away with eight packets of cigarettes and around £200.

He recalled: “When the guy came with the rod, I was speaking to my wife on the phone and somebody hit me on the back.

“When I got my bearings, I recognised them straight away as I knew the guy’s voice.

“I was waiting for a chance and he moved his machete into his left hand from his right so that’s when I had my opportunity. I grabbed him and once I got a grip I was not for letting him go.

“I never knew about my injury as the adrenaline just took over. When I looked at my hand afterwards, there was a massive four-inch gap there. There was blood all over the wall and the cigarettes.”

During the incident, Mr Riaz suffered injuries to his right hand and wrist that still affect his life.

“My middle finger and wee pinky don’t have feeling anymore,” he said.

“I can’t lift heavy stuff. I need to get help from my brothers in the shop as I can only work four or five hours at a time.

“I can’t even pack bags and have to give them to the customers to do.

“At night-time, I sometimes still get scared as you don’t know who is going to come in. I get nervous when groups of lads come in but generally the community has been very good, very supportive.”

Pearson, 21, of Daly Gardens, High Valleyfield, and Craig, 21, of Broomhead Drive, Dunfermline, previously admitted armed robbery and serious assault.

Lord David Burns was told the pair, who appeared from custody, had had drug problems from a young age and the attack was a bid to secure funds to feed their habit.

They were tracked down due to DNA from a glove Pearson left at the scene.

Sentencing the pair, Lord Burns said: “This was a cowardly and shocking attack perpetrated by you on a defenceless man in his own shop.”

Samuel Craig, above, and Kieran Pearson.