Six men face trial over Argyll Arcade raid in Glasgow
Six men are to stand trial later this year over a £229,000 jewellery raid at the Argyll Arcade in Glasgow.
Alistair Oliver, 30, Gordon McLay, 31, Jason Yendall, 29, Aaron Brannan, 24, Jason Britton, 23 and Jack Turner, 21, are accused of stealing watches from Rox on 24 September last year.
They are also charged with assaulting a security guard.
All six men appeared at the High Court in Glasgow, where judge Lord Turnbull fixed a trial for October this year.
The men are accused of having their faces masked at the time and of carrying a baseball bat, sledge hammer, pick axe handle and axes or similar implements and smashing a door at the shop.
'Fear and alarm'
It is claimed they put members of staff at Rox in "a state of fear and alarm for their safety" and robbed them of watches.
The six men are also charged with assaulting security guard, George Ferrier, and hitting him on the body with a baseball bat or similar implement and knocking him to the ground to his injury.
They are also charged with putting employees at the jewellers Laing, Lewis Grant and Mappin and Webb "in a state of fear and alarm for their safety" and attempting to rob them.
It is claimed that at an area of land in Musselburgh, East Lothian, being aware of the crimes they committed and to "avoid detection, arrest and prosecution" they burned clothing they had worn while carrying out their crimes.
It is alleged this was an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
Mr Oliver, Mr McLay, Mr Yendall, Mr Brannan and Mr Britton are also accused of robbing employees of the Royal Bank of Scotland on Home Street, Edinburgh of £19,675 on 2 October last year.
The men are alleged to have gone with their faces masked and carrying a machete and axes or similar implements and assaulting Kelly Rinaldi and Ross McMullen.
It is claimed they brandished the items at them, demanded money, threatened to kill them, pushed Ms Rinaldi and robbed them of the money.
Mr Britton also faces three road traffic charges including dangerous driving on the streets in Edinburgh on 2 October 2014.
All six men also face a string of theft charges from addresses in Edinburgh, Musselburgh and Haddington on 23 and 24 September last year.
Mr Oliver and Mr McLay are both from East Lothian, while Mr Yendall, Mr Britton and Mr Brannan are all from Manchester.