Jail for men after robbery at knifepoint
TWO young men robbed a teenager at knifepoint outside a Cardiff shop.
Ieuan Burgess and Marley Burgess approached the 18-year-old by pretending to ask for directions outside a Spar shop earlier this year.
A sentencing hearing held at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday heard Ieuan Burgess, then aged 20, hit the teenager in the face and punched him several more times while he was on the floor before sitting on him.
Marley Burgess, 19, then “stood over” the teenager while brandishing a knife and threatened to “jook” him. The pair made off with a bag containing a wallet, £30 in cash, debit cards, a phone charger, headphones and a vaping device.
Prosecutor Jeffrey Jones told the court Ieuan Burgess and Marley Burgess, who are not related, first approached Curtis Isaac outside the Spar shop in Fairwater Green at about 9.30pm on Friday, January 11.
He said Mr Isaac was on his way to his grandparents’ house and stopped to speak with Marley Burgess because he knew him. Mr Isaac then returned a short time later and the defendants called him over under the pretence of asking for directions.
“Ieuan Burgess then punched him to the side of the face,” Mr Jones said.
Ieuan Burgess hit his victim half a dozen more times and restrained him on the floor, Mr Jones said.
Mr Jones said Marley Burgess then produced a knife and told Mr Isaac to empty his pockets.
The court heard Marley said: “I have got a knife. I’m going to jook you.”
When the pair of attackers saw a car coming, they released Mr Isaac but made off with his bag.
The court heard Mr Isaac tried to track his two attackers down on Facebook, which led to an altercation with Marley Burgess, Mr Isaac and Mr Isaac’s father the following day outside the same shop.
Mr Jones said: “Marley Burgess effectively made another threat – ‘I’m going to twist your jaw. I’m going to jook you.’”
Ieuan Burgess and Marley Burgess were subsequently arrested.
Kathryn Lane, defending Ieuan Burgess, said her client deserved full credit for his early guilty plea. Ms Lane said Ieuan Burgess accepted his involvement in the robbery and that a degree of distress was caused.
She said her client struggled with cannabis and alcohol use at the time the offence took place.
“He is a young man who could, in the fullness of time, become a productive member of the community,” she said.
Hashim Salmman, defending Marley Burgess, told the court his client deserved credit for changing his pleas on September 11, having previously pleaded not guilty to two counts.
Mr Salmman said his client was of good character, with no previous convictions, but had been sofa-surfing and living on the streets following the break-up of his parents when he was about 14 or 15.
Ieuan Burgess, 21, of Clos Ty Bronna, Fairwater, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to a single count of robbery.
Marley Burgess, 19, of North Road, Gabalfa, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery and another of possession of an offensive weapon.
Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Ieuan Burgess to three years and four months’ imprisonment.
Marley Burgess was handed a prison sentence of four years and three months for the robbery and 16 months for the possession of an offensive weapon. The sentences are to run concurrently.
A restraining order barring both defendants from contacting Curtis Isaac was also put in place for five years.