Gang asked student: ‘Is phone worth your life?’
A GANG of thugs who terrorised students during a three-week robbery spree asked one horrified teenager: “Is your phone worth your life?”
Another was told: “Give me your coat or you’ll get slashed.”
Derice Hendrickson, 18, Shamun Hawksworth, 20, and Dante Beckford, also 20, have all been detained in a young offender institution for their part a violent three-week robbery spree in March and April last year. More offenders are still at large. The first robbery happened on March 21, when Hendrickson, with two other men, robbed a 19-year-old student who was visiting a friend.
The two pals were surrounded by the men on Pepperhill Road in Moss Side, and they demanded the victim’s jacket, said to be worth £450.
He was warned: “Give me the coat or you’ll get slashed.”
After seeing a knife, the victim handed over his coat, an Armani watch worth £150 and an iPhone.
Beckford and Hendrickson robbed a 17-year-old boy on Rook Street in Hulme at about 3pm, minutes after the first robbery.
The boy was surrounded by three men, one of which was Beckford who had a knife hidden in his trousers.
He stole a phone and bank card before the victim ran to a nearby college and phoned police.
Two days later Beckford and Hendrickson tried to rob a 17-year-old student at 1.30pm on Quinney Crescent in Moss Side near Loreto College.
The victim refused after the gang demanded he handed over his possessions. He was punched three times, and the gang made off empty-handed.
Then on April 1, Beckford and Hawksworth robbed two boys, aged 15 and 16, at about 4.30pm.
As they entered Alexandra Park, they were surrounded by three men, one armed with a metal bar. One boy handed over his phone, but the other refused, and was asked: “Is your phone worth your life? I will stab you here.”
After being punched he handed over his phone.
The following day, Hendrickson and Hawksworth robbed a 41-year-old man after surrounding him near Alexandra Park, demanding to know where he lived. He handed over his iPhone and wallet and, in a state of panic, gave the wrong phone PIN code.
They hold him: “We will come and find you if this is wrong.”
He was punched and kicked and the gang later withdrew £500 from his bank card. The victim said he went to stay with a friend because he was too scared to go home.
On April 8, Hendrickson and Hawksworth were part of a gang which targeted a 29-year-old post graduate student who was cycling through Alexandra Park at 5.30pm. They dragged him off his bike, before stealing it and his phone.
Police arrested Hendrickson and Hawksworth two days later. Beckford was arrested in May.
After being released under investigation, Hendrickson was part of a gang of about ten men who robbed a man of his bike in Old Trafford.
All three will serve half of their sentences in a young offender institution.
Hendrickson, of Brentwood Street, Moss Side, pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery and one of attempted robbery. He received three years, nine months.
Hawksworth, of Daisy Bank Road, Longsight, pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery. He received three years, four months.
Beckford, of Barleycroft Street, Hulme, pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery and one of attempted robbery, and got two years, three months.