Hooded teen robber has sentence cut

[dutchman]

Appeal Court judges agreed that the youth's two-year jail term was too harsh



A schoolboy who raided a Coventry corner shop for £2,500 because he felt guilty asking his hard-up parents for cash had his sentence cut today.

The youth, just 15 at the time of the March 2016 robbery, was detained for two years at Coventry Crown Court in August after admitting two counts of robbery.

He was one of three youths who stormed into the One Stop in Tile Hill wearing hoods.

The gang had scouted out the shop several hours earlier, and returned in the evening to execute their plan.

The youth was unarmed, said Lord Justice Flaux, but one of his accomplices vaulted the counter wielding a machete.

The manager and shop assistant were forced to the back of the shop, and had to hand over the keys of the safe.

The raiders fled with £2,500 in cash, London’s Appeal Court heard today.

The youth, now 17 but who cannot be named for legal reasons, challenged his sentence with claims that it was far too harsh.

Lord Justice Flaux, sitting with Sir John Royce and Judge David Aubrey QC, highlighted the disturbing aspects of the case.

The shop manager had a knife held to his neck, and the shop assistant had been left “traumatised”.

But the youth had no idea a knife would be used, and he has tried to turn his life around since the robbery.

He was sucked into committing the crime due to “peer pressure”, the court was told.

He also took part because “he was concerned about his parents and their financial hardship.

“He felt guilty asking them for cash,” the judges were told.

Given his remorse, and the the way he’d improved his life since, the appeal judges cut his sentence to 18 months.

[rebbonk]

His only remorse was in being caught. The judiciary has yet again faled in its duty to protect.