Store workers left permanently scarred as masked thug jailed for string of Leeds city centre robberies

Jahmari Toppin, 22, was jailed for eight years at Leeds Crown Court after pleading guilty to his part in the three robberies.

The court heard how on the evening of September 30 2025, Mr Hussain was working at the Merrion Street Convenience Store when two males in balaclavas entered, and asked about prices. He was then struck to the ground, bleeding from the face as the men demanded to know where the money and cash were.

Two weeks later on October 15, Mr Mohamidi was working at the City Store on St Peters Street, when two masked males entered. After telling them the store was closed, Mr Mohamidi was repeatedly punched as the assailants demanded he open the till.

The next evening on October 16, three masked men entered the Easy Road Mini Mart, and attacked a Mr Salah, who was punched with a knuckle duster. They filled a bag with cigarettes and vapes - stealing up to £1,500 worth of goods.

Toppin was arrested after West Yorkshire Police matched his fingerprints to a box, seen on CCTV footage being discarded by one of the offenders. They later recovered a jacket and trainers matching a suspect at his home. The lead prosecutor in the case told the court how the men had scoped out the premises before each of the robberies.

In harrowing victim impact statements, Leeds Crown Court heard how Mr Hussain, who has been left both physically and emotionally scarred, was now receiving therapy and was on medication for PTSD after being left “too scared to go out with friends,” and even attend prayers at his local mosque. He “no longer feels safe in the UK,” and has withdrawn from plans to study a Masters Degree at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

Similarly, Mr Mohamidi, who requires plastic surgery after suffering serious injuries to his right ear during the attack, was forced to take extended leave from work, and can’t sleep due to nightmares and the pain in his ear. Mr Salah, who previously had plans to settle down in Leeds, now plans to leave the city following the attack, and no longer sees his friends or family due to fears of them asking about his scars.

Mitigating for Jahmari Toppin, Ms Wilkes told the court how her client, who was of “previously good character” with no prior convictions, struggles with anxiety and depression due to past traumas, which saw two family members murdered while he was 15, in his home country of Trinidad and Tobago.

She told the court how the 22-year-old, who is still young and has the “opportunity to turn his life around,” had fallen in with the wrong crowd, which led to the “senseless violence,” for which he has expressed “genuine remorse.”

Passing sentence, Judge Simon Batiste remarked that it was “unusual” for a person to go from no prior offences to “such serious offences,” and described the violence as “extreme” and that it “went beyond what was necessary to commit the robberies.”

Acknowledging the defendant’s previously good character in the UK, Judge Batiste said he found it “less explicable” that Toppin would use such violence, causing “serious physical and psychological harm,” giving the family tragedies he himself had suffered. He is expected to serve half of his eight year sentence.