Phone-snatch robber targeted chef outside Leeds restaurant
A chef tussled with a robber outside the restaurant where she worked after he tried to snatch her phone during her break.
Knife-carrying Nathan Penwell made a grab for the device, but did not count on the woman fighting back.
Penwell, who has previous convictions for robbery, was handed a lengthy jail sentence at Leeds Crown Court this week.
The victim had been working at the Dunarea Grill on Harehills Road, Harehills, when she went outside to use her phone at around 7.40pm on April 27.
She called her husband but while on the phone, Penwell walked past and snatched the phone.
But she went after him and grabbed his jacket. He removed it and dropped it to the floor, with a knife also falling from it.
The phone dropped on the floor, with the woman trying to grab it back, as did Penwell.
Members of the public intervened and detained him until the police arrived, prosecutor Emily Thorbjornsen said.
He was handcuffed and put in a van, but continued to hit his head against his handcuffs, appearing to knock himself out.
Officers took him to hospital where he was checked out, before being transported to the police cell. However, he continued to be disruptive, hitting his head on the cell door.
An officer tried to stop him and he repeatedly butted their arm, leaving it bruised.
The 32-year-old gave a no-comment interview but later admitted robbery, possession of a knife and assault on an emergency worker.
Penwell, formerly of East Park Mount, Richmond Hill, has 28 previous convictions for 67 offences.
He was last jailed for six months in February for shoplifting and was freed on licence when he tried to rob the chef’s phone.
Mitigating, Craig Sutcliffe said his latest crimes were out of desperation, having been released from his last sentence without any accommodation.
He added: “He knows it’s his responsibility. He would hope in future that the probation service will be able to offer him further help.”
He described the robbery as a “spontaneous and stupid decision”.
Judge Richard Mansell KC told Penwell: “You were plainly intoxicated and under the influence of drugs.”
He jailed him for four years.