Carjacking pair who assaulted elderly women in Edinburgh jailed
The pair donned balaclavas and forced the elderly pair out the vehicle
A pair of thugs who assaulted a pair of elderly pensioners in a shocking carjacking incident in Edinburgh have been jailed.
Lewis Reddington and Ahmad Siddique were wearing balaclavas when they forced 88-year-old Agnes Watson and her friend Margaret Gray, 93, from the vehicle before getting in and driving off.
Reddington and Siddique, both 21, were eventually caught out after car owner Mrs Watson activated the Find My iPhone tracking app on her mobile phone that was left in her handbag on the back seat.
The vehicle was later traced to a reservoir car park on the outskirts of the capital and the two robbers were identified and arrested after their DNA was found inside in August 2024.
Reddington and Siddique pleaded guilty to a charge of assault and robbery during an appearance at the capital’s sheriff court last month and returned for sentencing on Tuesday.
Co-accused Connor Paterson, 21, had previously admitted to a charge of being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
The court was told Siddique is currently serving a six year jail term and will be supervised for three years after being found guilty of raping a student at an Edinburgh flat in 2023.
He was placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period and banned from contacting the victim for life following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in March this year.
Sheriff Gillian Sharp said Siddique had shown “little remorse” and had attempted to “minimise” the carjacking offence and sentenced him to an 18 month jail term to run consecutive to his current sentence.
Sheriff Sharp told Reddington despite his lack of previous offending and young age his “behaviour could not be tolerated” and sentenced him to custody of 16 months and six days.
The sheriff also imposed non-harassment orders banning the pair from contacting their victims for the next 15 years.
Fiscal depute Corey Laouadi told the court the carjacking has had “a significant impact on both [victims] and has affected their confidence” and Mrs Watson has given up driving due to the attack.
Previously the court was told Agnes Watson was dropping off her friend Margaret Gray near to her home in the capital when the two masked robbers approached the vehicle at around 9.50pm on August 27, 2024.
Fiscal depute James O’Reilly said: “As the vehicle pulled up, a group of men dressed in dark clothing and with face coverings approached the vehicle and opened the car doors.
“They opened both front doors and demanded the ladies get out stating ‘we want your car, get out’.
“Mrs Gray got out of the car and one of the accused entered the passenger seat and pushed Mrs Watson out of the car.”
A second man then jumped into the driver’s seat and the pair sped off in the direction of the city’s Robert Burns Drive.
The police were contacted and officers took statements from the two victims.
The fiscal said: “They were able to use the witness Watson’s iPhone which had been in the back seat of the car and they traced it at the Harlaw reservoir car park at 11.10pm.”
Police raided Reddington’s flat, which he shares with Connor Paterson, in the city’s Clovenstone area and discovered evidence of drug dealing within the property.
The court heard 500 grams of cannabis with a street value of £4900 was discovered along cash and paraphernalia including bags, scales and a number of mobile phones.
Paterson, 21, pled guilty to supplying cannabis while Reddington had a not guilty plea to the drug dealing offence accepted by the Crown.
Sheriff Sharp sentenced Paterson to an alternative to custody where he will have to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and must attend substance misuse services when directed to do so.