Wakefield thug stole man's mobile phone in knife point robbery after 'set up' before selling it for £20
A man who stole another person’s mobile phone in a knife point robbery before selling it on for £20 has been jailed for nearly four years.
Nathan Holding, 31, of Lower Warrengate, in Wakefield, and an associate had “set up” the victim by inviting him to a house in the city on August 27 last year.
During a sentencing hearing this morning (Thursday), Leeds Crown Court heard that the complainant noticed while he was sat in the property that the woman he was with was sending a lot of text messages.
At around 11.30pm the woman went to the front door and let in Holding, who “grabbed the complainant by his jumper and pulled a knife out towards him”.
For the prosecution, Celine Kart said: “He held a kitchen knife to his chest and said he would stab him if he didn’t hand over his wallet.”
The victim said that he didn’t have a wallet so Holding demanded his phone, which he took and left the property.
Holding was later picked out by the victim in an identification parade and the victim’s phone was found at another property, where it had been sold by Holding for £20.
For the defence, Jim Littlehales highlighted how Holding had issued an early guilty plea and also offered to provide evidence to convict his accomplice but that this was rejected by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr Littlehales said: “He fully accepts his role in the offending but indicated that she was equally involved in the planning. He’s entitled to additional credit for that.”
The judge, Mr Recorder Samuel Green KC, rejected this though, saying that regardless of whether the woman was convicted or not, Holding had a “leading role” in the incident.
Harding was appearing in court from prison, where he was serving a six-month for a separate charge of assaulting an emergency worker. Mr Littlehales said that Harding had been “using his time usefully”.
The judge took the sentence into account when he jailed Harding for years and nine months.