Knife-waving London raiders hit Wakefield 02 shop and got away with just £290
A gang that travelled up from London robbed a phone shop at knifepoint, but got away with just £294.
Two of the four group wore masks and entered the 02 shop in Wakefield city centre during a busy Saturday morning.
They fled with the “derisory” amount and got into a waiting taxi, but left staff suffering major trauma, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Marlon Mahelengamo, who waved a knife at staff, was jailed for almost four years having admitted charges of robbery and possession of bladed article in public.
The court heard that the group had travelled up from the south on July 25 last year, staying at the easyHotel in Leeds.
The next morning they got into a taxi at Crown Point and travelled to Wakefield.
At around 9.15am, Mahelengamo and another walked through the busy Trinity Walk area of the city and into the O2 shop on Teall Street. They had black jackets with hoods up and masks covering their faces.
CCTV from the shop was played to the court showing both defendants armed with kitchen knives, waving them around.
One was heard to say: “Get us into the f******* safe.”
Prosecutor Nathan Davies said a member of staff had a knife pressed against his back and told that“if he wanted to keep his life, he needed to open the safe”.
The safe was opened, but only £294 was inside. They took it and fled, with CCTV showing them getting back into the waiting taxi around the corner.
They travelled to York, but they were spotted with the knives and the police alerted.
After a foot chase, they were detained, although Mahelengamo jumped into the river in a bid to escape.
The 21-year-old gave a no-comment interview.
The victim impact statements of the three members of staff were read to the court, with all of them saying they had suffered since the terrifying robbery.
One said the incident had “completely destroyed” her life.
Mahelengamo, of Jacob Street, Leeds, has no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Eleanor Durdy pointed to his lack of previous convictions, his young age and that he had entered guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity.
She said that despite pinning some blame on others influencing him, he did not put forward a basis of plea and accepted the Crown’s case.
She also said he had a difficult upbringing, that he had lost his mother and had a strained relationship with his father.
In a letter he penned, read out by Ms Durdy, he said he had “hit rock bottom”, had been sleeping rough and “regretted” what happened.
Judge Kate Rayfield said there was a “plan” to “strike in the morning” at a shop.
She described the money they got as “derisory” but added: “You have profoundly affected the lives of three innocent people.
“All of them are paranoid and scared to go to work. They were terrified at the time and continue to be terrified. Two of them have been off work for some time.
“It staggers me that your very first offence is a knife-point robbery. It’s a really serious entry-point offence.”
She jailed Mahelengamo for 44 months.