Carjackers used knives and hammers to threaten terrified drivers in Leeds and Wakefield
Carjackers brandished weapons as they confronted terrified drivers and demanded their vehicles, a court heard.
The pair targeted a taxi driver in Leeds, then a man who was pulling into his driveway in Knottingley after returning from the shops.
Jack McCormick was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court this week for his role in the violent crimes, but was spared immediate custody mainly due to this age.
Now 20, he was just 17 at the time. He admitted two robberies and a charge of handling stolen goods.
On May 8, 2022, a taxi driver had finished his shift and was got out of his Audi A4 at around 1.45am in the Cross Flatts Park area.
As he reached the front gate of a property, McCormick and the second suspect jumped out brandishing large knives and demanded he hand over “everything”.
One held the blade “about an inch” from the victim’s stomach. Handing over the car keys, they got into the Audi but struggled to get it started, so demanded he help them.
They eventually got it going and drove off.
A day later, a Honda Accord owner was returning from Sainsbury’s at around 11am and pulled outside his home on Middle Lane, Knottingley, when the two culprits approached him brandishing a claw hammer, ordering him to get out of the car.
They then dragged him out after the man pleaded with them not to hurt him. Then then drove off at speed. They reached speeds of 100mph on the M1 but were forced to abandon the vehicle due to a puncture.
McCormick was arrested later and during a search of his property found a bank card and passport of a man who had been robbed on Water Lane in Holbeck in the early hours of May 7, 2022.
A charge of dealing in cannabis was also brought against him after he was seen on CCTV selling the drug in Leeds city centre in October 2021, but it was thought that he had previously been dealt with for that offence.
McCormick, of Manor Farm Road, Middleton, has previous convictions for theft and battery.
Mitigating, James Littlehales pointed to McCormick’s age and immaturity, to which Judge Richard Mansell KC agreed.
Judge Mansell acknowledged he was a “different person” now and that he was was now working as a chef.
He said he would make “considerable allowance for his age” and that he was under the influence of the other defendant, who has since been jailed.
He gave McCormick a two-year community order, with 80 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Mansell said: “Some might think it’s a lenient sentence. If I’m wrong and you offend or breach this order you will be back before the crown court and will be looking at significant custody.”