Man jailed over robbery

A MAN has been jailed for his part in an armed robbery carried out on two teenagers in Holmfirth.

Kyle Sykes, 19, was one of three men who chased the boys in a BMW before they were robbed by the thieves who had a pellet gun.

One of the victims was shot in the leg and had to have two stitches to close the wound.

Adam Walker, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court that in the early hours of September 9, 2016, the boys were driving around Huddersfield and Holmfirth together on a scrambler bike when a blue BMW turned around and followed them.

The car pursued the bike, which sped up in an attempt to get away, along Fearnley Lane in the Wooldale area of Holmfirth and effectively pushed it off the road and up against a wall. One of the robbers got out of the car and produced a small ‘gun,’ threatening: “Empty your pockets or I will shoot you.”

The victims were robbed of a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone worth £200, a blue Adidas bag and two helmets and Sykes drove away on the scrambler bike which was worth £300.

Sykes was found guilty of two counts of robbery after a trial last month in which a judge said he told “barefaced lies to the jury.”

Jonathan Turner, mitigating, said: “His position is that the complainant is lying about the weapon in order to not appear weak for having items stolen.”

He described his client as immature and said that he was not willing to name anybody else involved in the robbery.

He added: “There was no evidence that Sykes was aware of the weapon until the point when the bike was handed over.”

Sykes, of Crosley Wood Road in Bingley, has no previous convictions.

His co-defendant Michael Moorhouse was acquitted of two counts of robbery and one count of possession of a firearm.

Sentencing Sykes to four years’ imprisonment, of which he will have to serve half before being eligible for release, Judge Penelope Belcher described the robbery as “opportunistic” and said: “Both complainants expressed themselves as being extremely frightened.”

She also ordered Sykes to pay a £140 victim surcharge.

As he was led down, Sykes gave a thumbs up to a man and a woman sitting in the public gallery and said “See ya later”.