Teen robbed of his trainers after being tricked by thugs who offered to buy them for £1,000 when they were raffled online

The victim was told he would be stabbed unless he handed over the shoes after turning up to meet them.

Shane Boltwood and Shane Joseph were locked up after pleading guilty to robbery over the planned attack.

Leeds Crown Court heard the victim paid £159 for the trainers but hoped to make £1,000 by selling them in an online raffle.

He was contacted by one of the defendants soon after they were advertised on the internet on March 3, 2018.

The victim was given the name of someone purporting to be a Huddersfield University student.

An offer was made to buy the trainers outright for £1,000, either in cash or by bank transfer.

The teenager made arrangements to meet up three days later and caught a train to Huddersfield with two of his friends.

When they arrived he received a phone call directing him to the meeting place.

Once there the victim and his friends were approached from behind by Boltwood and Joseph.

Boltwood asked the victim if he had the trainers.

He opened the box that they were in and both defendants looked at them.

Boltwood then said he would transfer £1,000 to the victim.

The victim became suspicious as Boltwood gave a different name to the one used to make the initial contact online.

Joseph then offered to pay for them with cash.

The victim said he would only accept a bank transfer as he was worried about being paid with counterfeit currency.

Phillip Standfest, prosecuting, said the victim then handed the trainers to one of his friends while he used his phone to check the cash transfer.

Boltwood asked him to give him the trainers and tried to grab them.

The trainers were handed back to the victim.

Boltwood made another attempt to get them and ripped the victim's coat.

He told him he had a knife and threatened to stab him.

The victim let go of the trainers as he feared he would be stabbed.

Both defendants then ran off.

They were arrested after being picked out during an identity procedure.

Both defendants initially denied any wrongdoing and claimed they were collecting the trainers on behalf of someone else.

Paul Canfield, mitigating for Boltwood, said his client was 18 at the time of the offence and had not been in trouble in almost four years since the offence.

Mr Canfield said Boltwood, now 22, of Fare Hill Flats, Berry Brow, Huddersfield, worked in the building trade and had himself been the victim of a robbery in 2020.

He said: "He admits that he was a 'bad lad' at the time of the robbery."

Anastasis Tasou, for Joseph, now 21, of Ashenhurst Avenue, Newsome, Huddersfield . said his client was still a youth when the offence was committed.

He said: "This was a young man who stupidly and naively got into something he really should not have done.

"Unfortunately, the 17-year-old Shane Joseph did not consider the impact it would have."

Judge Christopher Batty said the offending was too serious to impose anything other than an immediate custodial sentence.

He said: "There is no doubt this was a pre-planned robbery.

"The only issue is whether you two planned it yourselves or were put up to it by someone else.

"He was perfectly entitled to sell his trainers. He and his friends were terrified with what you did.

"I am sorry gents, but it is custody."

Boltwood was given a 16-month sentence and Joseph was sent to custody for 13 months.