The most recent incident occurred last night, when a knife was held to the throat of one of the owners of the newsagent’s in Broughty Ferry Road and a small sum of cash stolen.

It was the second armed robbery at the premises in 48-hours, and comes on the back of a murder and hold-ups involving firearms at a central Dundee pub and a hotel on the outskirts of the city.

As the business community spoke of concern for front-line workers, the region’s head of CID stressed public safety was “uppermost” in his mind.

“I am confident all that can be done is being done,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Colin McCashey. “We have tactical contingency responses in place.

“These responses are in some instances routine and well practiced — such as the provision of road checks around the scene, whilst also ensuring a police response direct to the scene.

“Other aspects of the police response are tailored to current circumstances, such as scene preservation and evidence capture. The CCTV network plays a big part in investigations such as this.

“Unfortunately, the type of people who commit these crimes are often dependent on illegal drugs, and the crimes are often spontaneous and driven by the immediate need for money to buy these drugs.

“We do try and prevent this downward spiral into a chaotic lifestyle but, unfortunately, some people do slip through the multi-agency net that is there to try and get them off drugs.”

“Wasted” criminal

The same “wasted” criminal, skinny, very pale and in his early 20s, is believed to have been behind the two raids at the newsagent’s in Broughty Ferry Road.

Co-owner of the shop, Hinaan Gul, who was the victim of the first robbery, said they will not be intimidated and weren’t letting the incident affect them.

The shop opened as usual today and he said, “We think there’s a chance the guy might come back again.

“We were pretty much expecting that after the first time and I was ready for him, but it was my cousin Farhan Baig who was here instead of me.

“The guy held quite a big knife to his throat and threatened to kill him, then went off with a two-figure sum.”

Charles Goodall, chairman of Dundee and Angus branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, told the Tele the consequences of the robberies could have been far more serious. “If you are going to hold a knife to someone’s throat, then you only need to slip for it to become a serious assault — or worse,” he said.

“I am absolutely astonished that someone would have the gall to go back twice in two days. This is obviously a very desperate and dangerous person.

“I’m certain the police are doing everything they can to apprehend this person very quickly.

“I would also say to the local community to do anything they can to help the police if they saw anything, because the victims are people serving you in your community.

“Our figures show that only 3% of our 19,000 members, which include over 750 in Dundee and Angus, have suffered from violent crime in the last year.

“A bit of perspective has to be put on this, but at the same time I do feel that when these people are caught the courts need to send out a message when passing sentence.”

The Scottish Grocers’ Federation said that crime against retail outlets was a “major issue” for them — and called for greater protection for shop workers.

Public affairs adviser Gordon MacRae said, “What we are seeing is that people who abuse substances, whether it be alcohol, drugs or whatever, think shoplifting, and increasingly robbery, is an easy way to get some money.

“We need the state to make sure protections are in place so people know when they rob or steal from a community shop they are stealing from their own community — and they are going to be punished.”

Officers also continue to hunt gunmen who robbed the Nether Inn last week and the Premier Travel Inn at Panmurefield Village on Monday.

Detectives say those incidents may be linked and that one of the robbers may be the same man who walked into the home of Heather Wallace, in Barnhill, and tried to steal her car on the night of the hotel robbery.

It’s believed they have ruled out any connection between those crimes and the two robberies at the Ferry Road newsagent’s.

In addition to those cases, officers are still trying to track down the killer of Shaun McBeath, who was murdered after attending a party in the Hilltown tenement where he lived last week.

Mr McCashey revealed that, with resources “stretched”, officers had been brought in from other parts of Tayside, and from the ongoing inquiry into the murder of Carol Lannen.