A 19-year-old and a 17-year-old are facing sentencing for a series of thefts, one of which included the use of a machete to threaten a victim.
Charlie Graham-Theophilus, 19, of Eddington Crescent, Welwyn Garden City, was involved in a spate of crime in northeast London.
On Monday, December 13, prosecution Charles Ward-Jackson told St Albans Crown Court that in February this year Graham-Theophilus produced a machete, threatened a 16-year-old and took the victim's bike.
On 14 June 2019, he and another man robbed two boys in Highworth village near Swindon. The victims had finished their last GCSE exams and were on their way to a Co-op store when they were passed by a black Vauxhall car that had two men in it
The men in the vehicle “looked intently” at them, said Mr Ward-Jackson. They got out of the car and each robbed one of the boys.
Graham-Theophilus demanded that his victim hand over his watch and phone before headbutting him on the chin.
The robbers left, but the victims had managed to take down the car’s registration number. The police were called and the next day the car was spotted in Swindon. It was followed to Reading where Graham-Theophilus was arrested. The stolen watch was found in his trousers and the phone in his boxer shorts.
He also admitted handling a stolen Skoda, taking an Astra without consent, three charges of handling stolen laptops, Macbooks, a PlayStation and trainers. He also admitted attempted to steal bikes and taking a Toyota Yaris without consent. Those offences took place in northeast London between December 2020 and January this year.
Another Welwyn Garden City teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is due to be sentenced for robbing a youth in the town of an electric bike and a 15-year-old Wiltshire boy of his watch and mobile.
The 17-year-old admitted burglary, theft and attempt burglaries relating to the theft of push-bikes. They and another man also admitted handling the laptops, Macbooks, PlayStations and trainers.
The sentencing date for both teenagers is yet to be fixed.
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