‘Frustrated’ Creswell man attacked moped thieves in bid for justice

CCTV showed Scott MacDougall screaming at his first victim and threatening to stab him, in Worksop, on October 22, said prosecutor Jenna Minton.

He grabbed the man's jacket and referred to the fact he had already assaulted him.

Video-phone footage captured MacDougall brandishing a knife while his second victim lay on a sofa, on October 24.

He threatened to chop off the man’s fingers, hurled a television set to the floor and hit the man, Ms Minton said.

A day later he kicked and punched his third victim to the ground while shouting: "Where's my ped?"

MacDougall also chased his first victim, who had a bloody mouth, into a bank where he sought refuge in the till area, on October 26.

"The defendant entered, shouting and pointing and gesturing angrily," Ms Minton said.

He later handed himself in and remained silent when he was interviewed, except for saying: "If you did your job properly in the first place I wouldn't have had to do it."

Ryan Higginbotham, mitigating, asked for sentencing to be adjourned so MacDougall, aged 27, could attend a job interview, but the request was refused by magistrates.

MacDougall's victims had filmed themselves stealing from him and did not support the prosecution, he said. The defendant ‘tried to seek justice in his own hands,’ after he was frustrated by the lack of progress made by police.

Diagnoses of bi-polar, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and manic depression were exacerbated by cocaine use, Mr Higgingbotham said.

MacDougall was sectioned in August last year, and, four days after his release from hospital, his moped was stolen.

“He accepts he wasn't in the best frame of mind,” Mr Higginbotham said. “He has since moved out of the area. He is away from the people who provoked this response.”

MacDougall, formerly of Model Village, Creswell, and now of Tadcaster Close, Denaby Main, admitted criminal damage, making threats and three counts of assault by beating, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

He received a 26-week sentence, suspended for 12 months, and a community order with 20 rehabilitation days.

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