African men avoid jail after taking part in Coventry mugging

[dutchman]

A young man who works with teenagers to help steer them away from gang culture has narrowly escaped being jailed after taking part in the robbery of two Coventry schoolboys.

Eugene Mashidiku, who works with the Lighthouse Project in Birmingham, and Herve Mokanda pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to two offences of robbery.

Mashidiku, 19, of Church Road, Smethwick, and Mokanda, 20, of Geech Tower, Newtown, Birmingham, were both sentenced to 12 months detention suspended for two years.

The two, who had first denied the charges but pleaded guilty on the day of their trial, were also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work each and to pay surcharges of £100.

But Judge Andrew Lockhart QC asked for monthly progress reports on them – and warned that he would jail them if there were any breaches of the order.

Prosecutor Graeme Simpson said that in February last year two 15-year-old friends went into Swanswell Park on the outskirts of Coventry city centre at about 8pm.

They were almost immediately approached by three men, including the two defendants.

The third man grabbed one of the boys by his coat and pulled him towards them, and one of the defendants demanded his money.

When he said he did not have any, the same defendant told him: “Just give me your phone then.”

One of them reached towards his pocket, but the boy took out him phone himself, and was allowed to remove the sim card and memory card before handing it over.

His friend was also grabbed by the unidentified third man and asked for money.

He said he only had his £1 bus fare home, but that was taken from him, together with his phone, said Mr Simpson.

Three days later an unsuccessful attempt was made to sell the phones and some others at a CeX store in Birmingham.

And although Mashidiku had no previous convictions and Mokanda had only one for a railway fare offence, they were recognised by an officer who saw the store’s CCTV recording.

When they were arrested they accepted being present, but said they had played no part in the robberies and did not really know the other man, who they said they did not see again after leaving the park.

But Judge Lockhart observed that that was a lie – because all three were together again when they tried to sell the phones.

Tom Harrill, for Mashidiku, and Amy Jackson, for Mokanda, both urged the judge to suspend any custodial sentence on the two young men, who both came to this country with their fathers while their mothers remain in Africa.

After passing the suspended sentences, Judge Lockhart added: “I have taken a wholly exceptional course with you. This may be a blip in your otherwise good lives. But if there is any breach, I will send you to prison.”

[rebbonk]

I believe they ought have been deported and barred from re-entry for life. There are no excuses.