SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Upon sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Harrower made the following remarks:

"Gemma Robertson, Erin Birse: you have each pleaded guilty under s76 procedure to your involvement in four charges of assault and robbery. 

The offences were all committed in the course of a single crime spree committed over the course of 24 and 25 June 2025 at various locations in Inverness, at a time when you were each on bail.

The chronology, which does not correspond with the numerical sequence of the charges, was helpfully set out by the Advocate Depute in the narrative placed before the court. 

It all began with the offence in charge 2, in which you, Ms Robertson, carried out a wholly unprovoked attack on your victim, punching her several times on the head, before the two of you made off with two of her bags and their contents. 

It continued with the offence in charge 4, for which you alone, Ms Birse, have responsibility, and in which you assaulted a taxi driver, robbing him of his mobile telephone. 

Shortly thereafter, you were both involved in the assault and robbery of a different taxi driver, an offence which appears as charge 3 on the indictment.  You, Ms Birse, struggled with him, while you, Ms Robertson, positioned yourself in such a way that he could not get out of his car.  You both made off with £90 taken from his shirt pocket.

At about half past midnight, shortly after the offence committed in charge 3, you were passing the house of the complainer in charge 1.  He had only just returned from work.  He had let his dog out into the garden and so his front door was open.  You asked him if you could charge your mobile phones.  You seemed distressed, and he was kind enough to allow you into his home. You asked for a glass of juice, which he gave you. 

At some point, you, Ms Birse, grabbed the complainer’s wallet and tried to leave, but you tripped over the front step and onto the grass outside.  The complainer managed to retrieve his wallet, but you, Ms Robertson, tried to grab hold of it again, and a struggle ensued.  At this point, you, Ms Birse, shouted to Ms Robertson, who passed you a knife.  As the complainer continued to struggle with you, Ms Robertson, for possession of the wallet, you Ms Birse swung the knife at his face catching his nose.  You tried again, catching his finger and hand.  He fell to the ground.  As the struggle continued, Ms Birse, you stabbed him in the abdomen.

I have assessed the culpability of each of you as high.  Although you, Ms Birse, wielded the knife, it was you, Ms Robertson, who passed it to her in the first place.  Moreover, the blows were inflicted by one of you while the complainer was engaged in a struggle with the other.  The assault was carried out while you were each engaged in the joint enterprise of robbing the complainer in his own home.

So far as harm is concerned, as a result of his injuries, the complainer was taken to the High Dependency Unit of Raigmore Hospital, where he underwent a laparoscopy to deal with a serious and potentially life-threatening bleeding wound to his liver.  You must both consider yourselves fortunate not to be facing an even more serious charge. 

Robertson

Ms Robertson, you are now 40 years’ old.  You have 63 convictions dating back to 2006 for offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act, dishonesty, breach of court orders and assault.  Your offending has increased in seriousness, and in recent years has involved five prison sentences for assault and assault to injury, for periods of between 3 and 11 months. 

I have taken account of everything said on your behalf by Mr Chapman.  The social work report refers to long-standing mental health concerns, and it is clear that your dependency on drugs has played a significant part in your offending. 

Had I been sentencing you after trial, I would have imposed a cumulo sentence of imprisonment in respect of charges 1, 2 and 3 of 7 years, 6 months of which would have been attributed to the bail aggravations. Taking account of the stage at which you pleaded guilty, I will sentence you to 56 months, 4 months of which are attributed to the bail aggravations. That sentence will be backdated to 26 June 2025 when you were remanded in custody. 

Birse

Ms Birse, you are still only 24 years’ old and the guideline for sentencing young persons applies.  Although your criminal career is necessarily much shorter, dating back to 2018, in that period you have managed to amass 37 previous convictions, including a conviction for assault to injury in 2019, for which you received 4 months’ detention, and a recent conviction for robbery for which you received, on 10 April 2025, a prison sentence of 15 months, backdated to 12 August 2024.  It has been agreed that there are 141 days of that sentence still to serve. 

I have taken account of everything said on your behalf by Mr Latif.  I also take account of the social work report, and in particular what is said there about your background and your expressions of remorse, reiterated by you in a separate letter to the court.  Notwithstanding your record, the prospect of rehabilitation is a significant consideration, although in order to take advantage of it, in your case, too, you will have to address your dependency on drugs which has played a significant part in your offending.

I will first return you to prison to serve the full unexpired portion of the 15 month prison sentence to which I have already referred. That period of 141 days begins today. The sentence I am about to impose in respect of the four charges on the present indictment will only take effect on its expiry.

Had I been sentencing you after trial I would have imposed a cumulo sentence of imprisonment of 6 years, 6 months of which would have been attributed to the bail aggravations. Taking account of the stage at which you pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to 4 years, 4 months of which would have been attributed to the bail aggravations.  However, I must also take account of the 320 days which you have spent on remand.  I therefore propose to deduct from your sentence the period which would have resulted in your spending 320 days in prison.  That period is 21 months.  The result is that your sentence on this indictment, to take effect after the expiry of the return period of 141 days, will be 27 months. 

In respect of both of you, I will also make a non-harassment order, in terms of which you will not approach, contact, or attempt to approach or contact, in any way whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, the complainer named in the first charge on the indictment, that order to subsist for an indefinite period."

12 May 2026