‘I’ll smash your teeth in and knock you out’
A WOULD-BE robber blocked the path of a student walking home from the gym at night then demanded his wallet and threatened to smash his teeth in.
Robert Brockway clenched his fist, growled, and told the victim – who was on the phone to his parents – he would knock him out if he did not hand over cash.
Cardiff Crown Court heard the defendant shouted: “Don’t ignore me or I’ll smash your teeth in and knock you out.”
The incident happened around 10.40pm on January 16 when Dafydd Williams, 19, was walking home in Cardiff.
Jason Howells, prosecuting, said two men approached him and the defendant shouted: “Oi mate, stop there.”
The victim thought he was talking to someone behind him and kept walking but Brockway, described as “growling”, blocked his path then clenched his fist and demanded: “Give me your money.”
Mr Williams said he did not have his wallet with him and saw the defendant put his hand in his pocket, fearing he had a knife.
The other man said: “Leave him, he’s only a kid.”
The victim said he and his parents were “extremely frightened” and he no longer goes to the gym at night.
Prosecutors said Brockway went to The Atrium in Adam Street. A security guard followed him and tried to escort him out of the students’ union.
The defendant tried to punch him.
At 11.15pm he went to The Grazing Shed restaurant where Jeffrey O’Connor was clearing up.
The defendant asked for a drink and pocketed Mr
O’Connor’s £300 phone from a table.
Brockway was arrested in The Hayes.
In his police interview, he accepted he had taken alcohol, crack cocaine and heroin, claiming he was upset about housing and probation.
He denied street robbery. Asked about the incident with security, he told the officer: “I was being a c***.”
Mr Howells said the defendant had 91 previous offences on his record involving drugs, violence, and weapons.
Brockway, 34, from Sevenoaks Street in Grangetown, admitted attempted robbery, burglary, and theft.
Peter Wormald, defending, said: “He was brought up in very difficult circumstances. His father used to use his children on shoplifting expeditions as cover.”
He told the court his client witnessed domestic violence and his mother left home.
The court heard his father told the children he would burn down the house if they did not tell him where she was and subsequently did set fire to the property.
Mr Wormald said another prisoner held a knife to his throat at HM Berwyn Prison.
He added: “He was taken into custody as a damaged young man and while in the prison system he may have been damaged some more.”
Defence counsel said Brockway was not able to get medication or accommodation when he came out and started “self-medicating”.
He suggested the pandemic has led to “a more extreme level of incarceration”.
Judge Daniel Williams replied: “I do bear in mind the effect of the present pandemic upon those serving custodial terms.”
Brockway was jailed for two years and four months.