A BARMAID was chased through a golf club before being tied up on the floor by an armed robber in a ski mask, Perth High Court heard yesterday.
Christina Coulter, 57, was left cowering in fear as David O'Hare broke into the bar at Bridge of Allan Golf Club in Stirlingshire.
The High Court in Perth was told that O'Hare – who had walked free from court two months earlier on dishonesty char
ges – was a heroin addict with a £43,800-a-year habit.
O'Hare, 35, of Bridge of Allan, admitted putting on a mask and breaking into Bridge of Allan Golf Club on 29 August, 2005.
He admitted assaulting Ms Coulter by brandishing a length of piping at her and chasing her before forcing his way into a room she had fled to. He demanded money, forced her to open the safe, made her lie down and bound her wrists with cable before demanding her car keys.
O'Hare admitted injuring Ms Coulter, forcing open a gaming machine and stealing approximately £400 in cash.
Advocate depute Gillian Wade told the court that on the day of the attack, Ms Coulter had arrived for her shift as usual.
She said: "She continued her normal duties until 9:25pm when the last customer left the premises. She began to clear up. She was alone in the premises.
"She thought she heard the lounge door click and thought a member had come in. She looked through the glass panel door into the lounge area and saw someone standing within.
"The accused was standing facing her. He was wearing a dark balaclava or ski mask and she could see he was holding something in his hand. This was a piece of piping which he was holding at shoulder height."
She ran into the kitchen, but slipped on the floor she had been mopping, and O'Hare followed her in and confronted her as she crouched in fear.
He then made her open the safe and empty its contents. Mrs Wade added: "He then told her to lie down on the floor and tied her hands behind her back using cable ties. As he tied her hands he said: 'That's not too tight is it?'
"She was scared and she just wanted him to leave. He told her to continue to lay there for ten minutes and he would inform the police."
He demanded the keys to her Fiat Punto car which he then used as a getaway vehicle, before dumping it about a mile away. Ms Coulter ran to a nearby house, with her hands tied behind her back, to call the police.
When he was caught more than a year later, O'Hare claimed he had been having nightmares about the robbery.
He said: "I'm just sorry, it's not my thing. I'm glad I've got this over. I had nightmares about it."
Mrs Wade said the victim had been traumatised by her ordeal and now often slept with her 82-year-old mother for comfort.
Mrs Wade said the victim "felt her whole confidence was shattered".
Sentence on O'Hare was deferred by Lord Brailsford to the High Court in Glasgow on 11 November and he was remanded in custody.
The full article contains 543 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
