A DELIVERY driver who was targeted by an armed robber in a Johnstone street has told of his relief after the thug admitted his guilt.

Dad-of-one Martin New was left injured and badly shaken as a result of the attack by repeat offender Brian Murdoch, which took place in Cochranemill Road.

Murdoch, who was armed with a baton, made a bogus order for a takeaway and then pounced on Mr New as he tried to deliver the food.

He struck his 30-year-old victim with the weapon, chased after him and demanded his car keys.

Murdoch then smashed the vehicle’s windows with the baton – showering a three-year-old girl who was inside with shards of glass.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of assault and attempted robbery at Paisley Sheriff Court last week after prosecutors deleted claims he had also been armed with a stun gun and had displayed culpable and reckless conduct that left the young girl injured.

Recalling his ordeal, which took place in April this year, Mr New told The Gazette: “It is good he decided to plead guilty, as it has saved us from having to go through a trial at court.

“He’s probably a scumbag who will be in and out of court for the rest of his life.

“This could have all turned out so very differently but at least I can now move on with my life.”

Murdoch, 24, was only free to commit the armed robbery because he had been released early from a previous prison sentence imposed in 2017 for stealing a £50,000 car while wearing a stolen police uniform and pretending to be a CID officer.

He was also caged for four years and three months in 2012, when he was just 16, for shooting a man in the neck with an air rifle in a failed robbery bid before later being jailed for breaking into a home in Elderslie.

Sheriff James Spy called for background reports to be prepared ahead of sentencing and adjourned the case until later this month for that to be done.

Murdoch, of Woodside Crescent, Paisley, is currently the subject of a Supervised Release Order as part of his previous sentence, which means he is being monitored by social workers in the community.

He could be jailed for as long as five years when he returns to the dock to learn his fate.

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