Man left with fractured cheekbone as teenager made off with bank card in Leeds city centre robbery
A teenager has been locked up for a pair of robberies in Leeds city centre - which left one victim with a fractured cheekbone.
Giovanni Bandy, 18, of no fixed abode, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court this week after pleading guilty to two counts of robbery and one count of fraud.
Prosecutor Joel Wootten told the court how the first victim had been walking through Thornton’s arcade in Leeds city centre at around 11.30pm when he was approached by the defendant and a second male. The pair demanded a fiver and then his phone.
After initially refusing, the victim was warned “you don’t want to see us bad” and fearing for his safety put his hands up as Bandy took his phone. The complainant contacted police, and his phone was later recovered with the sim card removed via the FindMyPhone app.
Mr Wootten then detailed how the second victim was walking home along Call Lane at 1am when he was accosted by two unidentified males. Bandy, 18, then joined them and punched the victim, before pinning him against a wall as a third male punched him two more times. The group made off with the victim’s wallet and his Santander card, which was later used at a Casino on the Headrow. The attack was caught on CCTV.
The victim, who was a student on a night out with friends, was aided by Good Samaritans who rushed to help and ordered him an Uber home. Once there, he phoned police and an ambulance - he later required surgery to fix a fracture to his right cheekbone.
In mitigation, defence counsel Sean Smith told the court how a probation report found his client had “low levels of maturity” and a “misguided loyalty to others.”
While he admitted it would be “wishful thinking” to ask for a non-custody order, he asked that Judge Simon Batiste take into account Bandy’s age as he was just 17 when the first offence had occurred and of previously good character.
Passing sentence, Judge Batiste rejected the defendant’s claims that he didn’t know the other people involved in the robberies and that while he must take into account guidance for sentencing young people, the offences were “so serious that custody is the only option.”
He sentenced the 18-year-old to four months for the first offence and three years in prison for the second - to be served consecutively. Bandy will serve up to half the sentence before being released on license.