‘Give me your phones or I’ll stab you’
KNIFEMAN TERRORISED TEENAGERS IN ORDEAL AT CITY PARK
A TEENAGE dad menaced three terrified youngsters in a Derby park and stole their phones before his gang cruelly mocked one of the victims.
Derby Crown Court heard how Ryan Russell rode towards the victims on a stolen moped with his face covered in Allestree Recreation Ground.
The 18-year-old criminal showed them a knife tucked into his waistband and said: “Give me your phones or I will stab you.” Sending the dad-of-one to a young offenders’ institution for four years, Judge Robert Egbuna said: “They were petrified. They were simply enjoying the fireworks on Bonfire Night.”
A TEENAGE dad from Derby menaced three terrified youngsters and stole their phones before his gang cruelly mocked one of the victims.
Derby Crown Court heard how Ryan Russell rode towards the victims on a stolen moped with his face covered on Allestree Recreation Ground.
The 18-year-old criminal showed them a knife tucked into his waistband and said he would stab them if they refused to give him their phones.
One of them raced home and told his older brother what had happened and he used an app to track the stolen phone to a street in the city centre.
But when they drove there they were met by an intimidating large group of men who held the phone aloft “mocking them”.
And at the time of the robberies Russell, from Spondon, and who has previous convictions for the same offence, was on bail for an earlier robbery of a University of Derby student.
Sending the dad-of-one to a young offenders’ institution for four years, Judge Robert Egbuna said: “You showed the victims that you had a weapon which was placed strategically in your waistband. The knife was clearly visible for them to see, you told them you would stab them if they did not do what you told them.
“They were petrified. They were simply enjoying the fireworks on Bonfire Night. One of them is autistic and suffers ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). He says that since this happened he feels isolated from his friends.
“You are a young man who has already amassed an unenviable criminal record of eight convictions for 20 offences including other robberies when, as part of a gang, you were the ringleader.”
Laura Pitman, prosecuting, said the first robbery saw Russell target a University of Derby student outside his halls of residence in February of last year.
She said the defendant and an accomplice approached him as he was smoking a cigarette at Sir Peter Hilton Court, in Agard Street.
Miss Pitman said they threatened to stab him unless he handed them his mobile phone.
She said after being arrested and bailed for this, he committed the second robberies on November 5, last year.
Miss Pitman said three teenage friends were in Allestree Recreation Ground, in Robincroft Road, watching the fireworks when Russell and a second man rode towards them on a stolen moped with their faces covered.
She said: “One of the boys saw the handle of a knife in his waistband. They were terrified about what was going on, they thought they were going to be stabbed. They believed a stabbing would take place unless they handed over their phones.
“The defendant demanded they gave him their phones. He said ‘give me your phones or I will stab you.’”
Miss Pitman said following the robbery, one of the victims went home and his older brother used a tracking app and discovered the phone was in
St Anne’s Close, in the city centre.
She said they drove there but found a large group of males who held the phones aloft “mocking them” so they left and called the police.
Miss Pitman said the following day the brother checked Facebook Marketplace and found the phone for sale under a name linked to Russell.
In a victim impact statement, one of the Allestree teens said: “I am autistic and my phone was my way of communication with my friends, especially during Covid.
“I feel very scared to go out in case I see him (the defendant).”
One of the other victims, in his statement, said he felt “shocked and helpless” during the robbery. Russell, of Moult Avenue, pleaded guilty to four robberies and stealing the moped from outside Burdett Lodge bail hostel, in Bass Street, Derby. He has previous convictions for robbery.
Hal Ewing, mitigating, said his client pleaded guilty meaning the young victims did not have to come to court and face the man who robbed them at a trial.
He said: “He is still only just 18 and is an adult with a degree of immaturity. He has a partner and daughter who will be two in June and that hangs heavy on him knowing he will be missing that and other birthdays as he will be in custody for a considerable time.
“He’s a young adult with a lot of growing up to do.”
...he will be in custody for a considerable time. He’s a young adult with a lot of growing up to do. Hal Ewing