Three years in jail for Walsall teenage mugger

Teenager Shabir Khan was one of a gang of four robbers looking for trouble after harassing girls on the steps of a library.

Two male victims in the group were kicked and punched. One was kicked unconscious and robbed of cash and a mobile phone, his friend had an ipod taken, while another was left bleeding from the ears from kicks.

Three of the gang were jailed by a judge last August, but the fourth, Khan, was given a longer term of detention because he tried to deny it.

Khan, now aged 18, of Bloxwich Road, Walsall ,eventually admitted two charges of robbery and one of attempted robbery over the incident outside Burton Library.

Judge Michael Elsom told him; "You know what the likely sentence is going to be . . . those who set about people in the street and rob them must expect long sentences."

Of the other robbers, Anees Hanif, aged 19, of Norfolk Road, Burton and Junaid Ali, also 19, of Shobnall Street, Burton, were each sent to youth custody for 32 months, while Hamad Yaqoob, aged 17, of Shobnall Street got two years detention.

All had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting, told Stafford Crown Court that when a male member of the group told the gang to clear off, they turned violent.

"Without warning he was kicked full in the face with considerable force and knocked out, his head banging against the wall," he said.

The gang attacked all the males in the group and made threats to the females.

One man handed over his £400 phone and wallet which contained £30 in cash.

The money was taken out and the wallet flung back at him.

A woman was not manhandled, but her ipod was stolen, while another man was punched and kicked to the head and spine, leaving one of his ears bleeding internally.

Mr Spratt said Khan played a significant role in the robberies, delivering at least one of the kicks and gesturing to people to hand over their goods.

When questioned after arrest Khan made no comment, even after being shown CCTV footage of the incident.

Police had to use facial recognition technology to identify him.

His mobile phone also showed he had travelled from Walsall to Burton on the night of the robberies, on January 4 last year.

Mr Dean Kershaw, defending, said: "A large amount of alcohol had been taken – three bottles of vodka between the four of them, the eldest only 19, so one can imagine the state they must have been in."

Khan was not party to the initial violence, but joined in after about a minute, he added.