Customer tried to rob his local shop

However, Paul McDevitt was caught after the counter assistant spotted wisps of his distinctive silvery-blonde hair poking out of the eye holes.

Apart from the ski mask and a jacket, McDevitt was wearing the same clothes he’d had on when he popped into the grocery and off-licence only two hours earlier.

McDevitt (38), of Woodburn Crescent, produced a six-inch long knife and told Roseanne Cullen, who was behind the counter, to give him money.

The shop assistant had lived in the area all her life and immediately recognised him.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard McDevitt left the shop empty-handed. He was followed by Ms Cullen and another local who watched him sneak down a back lane, hide behind a bush, take off his jacket and head up a flight of stairs to his flat.

Samantha Brown, prosecuting, said McDevitt had bought a bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka on his earlier visit to the shop, at 10.30 in the morning.

McDevitt, unemployed, admitted attempted armed robbery at the Day Today store in Leapark Drive, Bonnybridge, last December.

Solicitor-advocate Martin Morrow, defeending, said: “He is realistic about the outcome of these proceedings.”

Sentence was deferred until November 3 and McDevitt was remanded in custody.