Frightened 12-year-old robbed of £800 gold chain outside Castleford's Xscape
A 12-year-old boy was left terrified after a teenager robbed him of his expensive gold bracelet.
The youngster was told by Blake Abbott he would be stabbed if he didn’t hand over the £800 item, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Abbott escaped with a suspended sentence this week, having been warned that if he was an adult he would have faced custody.
He was only 16 at the time of the robbery on March 29, 2024.
The court heard that the victim was with friends on a bus to the leisure centre, Xscape, as was Abbott and a friend.
The boy overheard Abbott on the bus discussing buying a machete.
They all got off the bus at the same stop on Colorado Way and began heading for Xscape.
The young boy noticed Abbott walking behind them before he approached them.
Abbott then asked the boy if his bracelet was “real”. Out of fear, the youngster said it was fake but Abbott asked if he could try it on.
When he refused, Abbott threatened to stab him, before grabbing him and pulling the bracelet from his wrist and walking off.
The boy rang his family and was “hysterical and crying”, the court heard.
An appeal was later put out on social media by the boy’s family, and Abbott responded under a fake profile saying he had witnessed the robbery.
However, he was recognised by the youngster.
Abbott, of Chequerfield Drive, Pontefract, was arrested on March 31 and told officers he had received the bracelet in a fair swap.
But messages found on his phone showed Abbott boasting that he “got away with everything”.
Now 19, he admitted robbery. He has no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Samreen Akhtar said the boy’s family had since tried to communicate with Abbott, so any suggestion of a restraining order “has to work both ways”.
She said: “He is very sorry for what happened and what he put the complainant through.
“He has effectively kept his head down since.”
Abbott had since got a job in hospitality, but lost it when his pending court case came to light.
Judge Tahir Khan KC told Abbott: “In many such cases, immediates sentence of custody are appropriate.
“That being said, you were only 16 at the time. Had you been an adult, the sentence would have been four years’ custody.”
He handed him a 24-month sentence, suspended for 24 months, with 200 hours of unpaid work to complete, along with 20 rehabilitation days.
He was also given a five-year restraining order to keep away from the victim.