Teen gang robbed youngsters at Leeds KFC and Toby Carvery in hour-long trail of terror

The thieves travelled from Bramley to Horsforth to target six victims, including youths eating in KFC and others outside Toby Carvery. Ciaran Preece and Harrison Wood were part of the gang who admitted the string of robberies at Leeds Crown Court.

Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said the first victims, two 15-year-olds, had been outside the Toby Carvery pub on Fink Hill at around 6.30pm on January 3 last year.

They were approached by Wood and a second male wearing a balaclava, with Wood ordering them to empty their pockets. One was then grabbed by his jacket and a bottle put to his neck. Wood then turned to the second victim and demanded he give him his bag which contained his iPhone.

Wood spat at a girl who was with the two victims.

Half an hour later, Wood, Preece, and a third male, were in KFC at Broadway Services when another group of three 15-year-olds came in. The thieves approached them, demanded they hand over their property and told to put their phones on the table or they will be stabbed. The third male also threatened to rip an earring from one of the victims.

They took their phones and a rucksack and left, but were caught on CCTV. Minutes after walking away from KFC they then saw a teenager talking with two friends who had left his bag on a nearby wall. The defendants took the bag with one telling the boy “I will bang you”, after he tried to object. More than £410 worth of items were in the bag.

The police combed the area and were able to arrest the third man, while Wood and Preece were later arrested at home.

Wood, aged 19 of Poplar Croft, Bramley, admitted six offences of robbery and a racially-aggravated matter after he verbally abused an Asian officer during an unrelated arrest. He has six previous convictions for 19 offences, including robbery and ABH. He is already a serving prisoner at HMP Doncaster for that robbery, which postdates these set offences by a just a matter of weeks.

Preece, aged 18, of Brookfield Gardens, Rodley, admitted three counts of robbery. He has two existing convictions for robbery and affray.

Mitigating for Wood, Andrew Pickin said: “He appreciates what he did is wrong and wishes to turn his life around. He does have a problem with drink. It does not explain his behaviour but it influenced his behaviour in this situation.”

For Preece, Chloe Fairley said: “He has been engaging with people who were having a negative impact on him and knows it’s his own fault.” She said he had since got a job working at a food factory as a machine operator. She said he too was mixed up in drugs but had since stopped smoking cannabis.

Judge Andrew Stubbs told the pair: “This was team offending. You travelled from Bramley to Horsforth, it was planned and not spur-of-the-moment.”

Wood was jailed for 26 months, with Preece jailed for 24 months.

Wood was also handed a four-year criminal behaviour order (CBO) to keep him away from the Horsforth area.