Prolific offender jailed for thefts and assault

SPREE INVOLVED ROBBERIES IN WHICH SHOP STAFF THREATENED

A PERSISTENT criminal has been jailed again after a series of robberies in which shopworkers were threatened with a claw hammer.

Callum Kavanagh, who has already amassed 60 offences on his record, also attacked a man in the street, smashing bones in his face in an unprovoked assault.

The 21-year-old was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for five separate offences – including three robberies with a juvenile accomplice wielding a claw hammer as Kavanagh waited in a getaway van.

Richard Gibbs, prosecuting, said a man on an evening out with friends in the city centre was punched twice in the face as he smoked a cigarette outside Spencer’s bar, in Silver Street, on September 21 last year.

The victim suffered a broken eye socket and cheekbone that required surgery.

Kavanagh, of Drummond Road, near Abbey Lane, Leicester, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Despite being banned from driving until February 2022, Kavanagh also admitted he was behind the wheel of a VW Golf when it was stopped by police in Nottingham, on December 11.

He told officers he had bought the car earlier that day and said: “It was a stupid thing to do.”

On February 4, Kavanagh caused a disturbance outside the home of his girlfriend’s friend, in Duncan Road, Aylestone.

He was seen pulling his girlfriend backwards in a rough manner towards a car and when her friend tried to intervene, Kavanagh hurled racist abuse at her and repeatedly kicked her front door as she tried to close it, leaving the woman with a bruise on her ankle.

He admitted common assault, plus racially aggravated offences of harassment, damage and common assault, as well as driving a Citroen car when disqualified and without insurance, when he left the scene.

Kavanagh and an unknown woman went to Asda in Oadby on March 9 and filled up a trolley with a “suspicious amount of alcohol and meat” which they left near the entrance.

A male juvenile accomplice then began wheeling it out of the store.

When confronted by a security guard, the youth pulled out a hammer and waved it at the guard, before making off with Kavanagh in a van.

They went to Peacocks, in Bell Street, Wigston, where the juvenile helped himself to £350 of items.

When approached by a female member of staff, the youth ran at her, barging her out of the way and made off in the van with Kavanagh.

The same juvenile went into Blacks store, in High Street, Leicester, on March 14, while Kavanagh waited nearby in the van.

The youth made off with £2,000 of garments and, as a woman employee tried to stop him, he waved a claw hammer at her.

The court heard the incident left her shocked and traumatised.

Kavanagh pleaded guilty to involvement in all three robberies. The juvenile is still awaiting sentencing. When arrested on March 15, officers found cannabis in Kavanagh’s bedroom, which he admitted possessing.

Judge Philip Head said: “You have 60 previous convictions, including violence, public order, dishonesty and motoring matters.

“I’ve read your letter saying ‘I completely hold my hands up to the position I’m in’.

“I recognise you’ve had a very troubled background, but using that as a reason for reducing your sentence will no doubt have been used time and time again on your many previous court appearances.”

The judge said he was sentencing Kavanagh for a spree of offending.

He described the racially aggravated offences as nasty and said the attack on the innocent victim in the street was another example of “early hours violence”.

Michael Garvey, mitigating, said: “He’s a young man not entirely without some redeeming features or beyond rehabilitation.”

Kavanagh was jailed for three years and two months.

He was banned from driving for two years.