Shocked pupils and teachers watched as two armed thugs tried to rob a dad of his car outside a Lanarkshire primary school.
The parent was waiting to pick up children when David Mathewson and Brandon Robertson threatened him with a meat cleaver and a knife.
Graham McMaster, whose partner Charlene Linden was in the car, suffered a cut during a struggle before the attackers turned on his pal and then fled.
Mathewson, 27, and Robertson, 21, admitted charges of assault, robbery and attempted robbery after the incident at Mossend Primary School in Lanarkshire last September.
Hamilton Sheriff Court heard Graham was waiting in the school car park with a woman and her mum.
Prosecutor Paul Jamieson said: “The area was busy with schoolchildren and parents.
“Mr McMaster felt a knife at his neck through the open window of the car and a male voice told him to get out.
“He refused and Robertson grabbed the key from the ignition. Mr McMaster tried to take it back and suffered a small cut to his hand.
“Robertson was in possession of a meat cleaver while Mathewson had a knife.
“The two females in the car were screaming for assistance.
“Teachers were in the playground and the head teacher alerted the police.”
Graham’s friend Barry Hughes tried to intervene but was knocked to the ground before Mathewson and Robertson punched and kicked him repeatedly.
Robertson yelled: “Do you know who the f**k I am? I’ll find out where you live and kill you.”
Mathewson shouted in Graham’s face: “Do you think you are some sort of gangster? I’m going to kill you.” Both then ran off, leaving the car keys on the ground.
Mathewson, of Motherwell, is serving a three-year prison sentence for assaulting a woman and robbing her of a car.
Lawyer John McGeechan said he’d had a problem with valium and was “in a dark place” at the time of the incidents.
Sentence on Mathewson and Robertson, of Mossend, was deferred until next month for background reports.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Why not head to our page and give us a like and share.
*Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here .
