'Dangerous' thug broke reveller's jaw and robbed him in vicious Leeds city centre assault
A thug who beat and robbed an innocent reveller on a night out in Leeds has been deemed a danger to the public and handed a sentence totalling more than 11 years.
Christopher Wakefield was with a group of men that launched a vicious and unprovoked attack, and then took the victim’s belongings.
But 35-year-old Wakefield was also charged in connection with a separate incident in which he also robbed his own girlfriend at knifepoint.
Appearing at Leeds Crown Court this week from custody, he was given the extended sentence after Judge Roger Thomas KC told him: “There’s no doubt in my judgement that you are someone who is a significant risk.”
Prosecutor Graham O’Sullivan said that Wakefield had been in an “on/off” relationship with his partner for around six years and he had been violent towards her in the past.
On April 14, 2020, they had been drinking most of the afternoon and after she went to bed, they got into an argument, resulting in Wakefield punching her and putting his arm around her throat.
He punched her “seven or eight times” again to the face, then grabbed a knife and threatened to kill himself.
But he then pointed it at the woman and demanded her bank card and PIN. He left and withdrew £70 from her account.
Wakefield, of Holdale Close, Leeds, later admitted ABH, robbery and fraud.
But Wakefield showed his violent tendencies again in Leeds city centre on September 14 last year, when he attacked a man who was walking on his own after a night night.
The court heard it was between 5am and 6am on York Street when Wakefield and three other men approached him and asked him where he was from.
Wakefield then punched the man along with another member of the group. Falling to the ground, the victim was then kicked and punched repeatedly.
His bank card and iPhone were taken as he lay stricken in the road. He had his two front teeth knocked out and his jaw was later found to be fractured.
The CCTV of the street attack was played to the court.
The phone was later found in a taxi, left by Wakefield as he got out and ran without paying the £25 fare.
He was later identified and arrested but refused to answer police questions.
Wakefield later admitted section 20 GBH, robbery and making off without payment.
Wakefield has 12 previous convictions for 21 offences, including Section 18 GBH with intent, for which he was jailed in 2012 for 63 months.
Mitigating, Tom Jackson said Wakefield had been at a “low ebb” during his recent offending and there was a “lack of planning and sophistication”.
Judge Roger Thomas KC told Wakefield, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds where he is being held on remand: “You are indeed to be regarded as a dangerous offender.”
He gave him an 11-and-a-half-year jail sentence, made up of nine years’ custody with a two-and-a-half-year extended licence period.