Portsmouth city centre knife-wielding teenage robber sent to detention centre

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wreaked fear across the city late on October 12 last year in Winston Churchill Avenue when brandishing a large bladed article – forcing his victims to hand over their possessions including mobile phones and wallets.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how the juvenile, who had no previous convictions, approached the victims in succession after darkness had fallen.

Prosecutor Thomas Wilkins told the court: ‘He went up to his first victim and asked, “what you got on you?”

‘The victim then responded “not much” before the defendant said “don’t mess with me”. He then pulled his jumper up and showed a knife. The complainant handed over his phone and bag. The defendant got on his bike and cycled off towards Guildhall.’

Buoyed by his success, a short time later the defendant approach a student on Commercial Road. ‘Drop your bag or I’ll stab you in the stomach,’ he warned the victim, according to Mr Wilkins.  

Fearing an attack the individual handed over his bag which had £100 inside and items of sentimental value.

The youth’s final attack of the night came just after midnight when he walked up to a third victim and asked what was in his bag before revealing the knife – described as brown-handled. Items in the bag were then handed over, the prosecutor added.

The incidents were reported to police, who searched the area for the teenager before they located an individual who matched his description. ‘The police saw the defendant on his bike and gave chase before eventually catching up with him. The knife had been discarded but was located nearby,’ Mr Wilkins said.

During police interview he denied the offences but his DNA was found on the knife.

Five days later after being bailed, the teenage knife-wielder was back up to his old tricks as he approached another person in the city centre. ‘You looking at me funny? You want me to pull (a knife out)?’ he said, before revealing a knife from his jeans.

The victim said it looked like a ‘bread knife’ before describing their ordeal. ‘I now feel very anxious and afraid. This is the first time anything like this has happened to me,’ the victim said in statements read out to the court.

The defendant’s identity was confirmed following an identification parade after police arrested him.

Defending Rob Harding said it was, and still remains, a ‘mystery’ why the youth – with a previously unblemished record – committed the offences. ‘There is an inability to understand the consequences of his actions,’ he said before pleading for the teenager to be spared jail over fears he would be mixing with bad influences.

But judge David Melville QC said: ‘You robbed four innocent people as they walked about at night by threatening them with a bladed article. If you were an adult it would be a five year prison term starting point for this crime.’

Instead the defendant, who admitted four counts of robbery and two charges of possessing a bladed article, was handed a 10-month sentence at a detention centre.