A Salisbury man has been sentenced to five years and six months in prison after “planning and carrying out a serious assault” on a woman, Wiltshire Police announced last week (August 21).

Cameron MacKay, 36, of Rougemont Close, was found guilty and sentenced last week at Salisbury Crown Court for attempted grievous bodily harm (GBH), possession of an offensive weapon and harassment, police said.

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Mackay “waited for his victim, who was known to him”, and attacked her on Pembroke Road in Bemerton Heath with crutches on February 26 at 9.20am, they added.

The incident “was witnessed by a number of people who intervened and barricaded themselves inside a pharmacy until police attended”, they said.

 

“Some of the worst injuries I’ve seen”

 

"The victim's injuries were some of the worst I have seen”, said local crime investigator Dawson, adding that witnesses of the “sustained and vicious attack” said they “were frightened he was going to kill her”.

The jury found that MacKay “pre-planned his violent and unprovoked attack by bringing a hammer to a place he knew she would be, in order to assault her with intention of causing her serious harm”, Dawson said.

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The investigator thanked the “heroic actions of the staff who were there that day, who intervened without hesitation and who, ultimately saved the victim from further, more serious harm”.

MacKay was also sentenced to one month each to run concurrently for four counts of assaulting an emergency worker between November 2023 and February 2024, police said. 

 

“Do you want a knife?”

 

It comes as another man has been jailed for 12 years for three robberies in East Sussex holding pharmacy staff at knifepoint for opioid medication between 2022 and 2024, Sussex Police announced last week (August 20).

Michael Youssefi, 42, of Seven Acre Close in St Leonards, committed the first armed robbery in May 2022 at a Day Lewis Pharmacy in Hastings when he “threatened a pharmacist with a large kitchen knife and told her to give him Oxycontin”, police said.

Officers attended the pharmacy and found blood that was sent off for forensic testing and later linked to him, and he was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery “after his description matched witness accounts”, they added.

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While on bail for this robbery after pleading guilty to the offences at Lewes Crown Court in April 2024, Youssefi committed an almost identical robbery and another attempted robbery on the same day, according to police.

At around 9am on April 27, he entered Boots in Eastbourne Road, Pevensey, and “forced his way into the dispensing area while armed with a knife” but was “unable to find what he wanted” and ran away after witnesses attempted to intervene, they said.

At around 4:30pm that day, he entered Kamsons Pharmacy in Victoria Drive, Eastbourne, and demanded oxycodone, they added.

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Staff “initially refused” but he was given a box of the tablets and left after he threatened them, saying “do you want a knife?", police said.

The following day, Youssefi was arrested in his car in Hastings and blister packs of oxycodone were found in the vehicle matching what was stolen from Kamsons Pharmacy, according to the force.

“Despite being masked during the robberies”, he was linked to the crimes and charged with robbery, attempted robbery and possession of a knife in a public place, it said.

 

“Broad daylight”

 

Detective constable Chris Perry, who worked on the three cases, said that "following three brazen incidents at pharmacies in Eastbourne, Pevensey and Hastings - all in broad daylight - the sentence reflects the severity of his crimes”.

“We hope this gives a strong message to those who may be considering following in his footsteps," he added.

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Fellow detective constable Marcus Cox said that “the victims were left understandably shaken by these incidents and we hope now that Youssefi has been sentenced, they can begin to put this behind them”.

Meanwhile, two UK pharmacies were last week damaged by fires in less than 24 hours – one by a suspected electrical fault and the other believed to have been “started deliberately”.