Bradford knife-wielding robber jailed for pub and shop threats
A man who threatened pub staff and a shopkeeper with a knife after taking crack cocaine has been jailed for more than four years.William Leathem, 40, demanded money from workers at the Ginger Goose pub in Bradford after he was asked to leave the premises.After leaving with £60 from the till, he entered a nearby mobile phone shop while still holding the knife and attempted to steal a phone, Bradford Crown Court heard.Leathem, of Alcester Garth, Bradford, admitted robbery, attempted robbery, possession of bladed articles and assaulting an emergency worker and was sentenced to four years and eight months.
The sentencing heard Leathem was spotted by a police officer on Sunbridge Road on 26 February, with the officer tackling him to the ground.Police used an incapacitant spray to subdue him after he resisted arrest, the court heard, and he was found to be carrying two knives.During a police interview, Leathem claimed he was being "hunted" and couldn't recall brandishing the knife in the pub.
Judge Sophie McKone said Leathem had taken the decision to take crack cocaine, adding: "It makes you act in a paranoid way believing things that aren't true."The court heard Leathem had experienced issues with alcohol and drug addiction from the age of 12.Jailing him, the judge imposed a five-year restraining order banning him from both the pub and the mobile phone shop."The people that work in the city centre here in Bradford, whether serving in pubs or running their own shops, are entitled to feel safe and secure and not be the subject of violent threats with knives," she told Leathem."When the police arrived they very bravely tackled you with that knife, but you were waving it around."
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
Family of murdered Lyons kingpin Ross Monaghan say notorious rivals DIDN'T order executions
THE grief-stricken family of murdered Lyons gang kingpin Ross Monaghan last night sensationally said their Daniel clan enemies are not to blame. We can reveal the bitter Glasgow rivals have put their own conflict on hold amid suspicions a foreign crew ordered the Costa del Sol pub hit on hoods Monaghan, 43, and Eddie Lyons Jnr, 46. 3 3 3 The relative said: 'The one thing people need to know is the Daniels are not behind this. "There are other theories about who is behind it, but the one thing we know for sure is it's got nothing to do with the Daniels or Mark Richardson.' The relative also insisted that despite leading lives of crime, both victims were much-loved family men. Tragically, Eddie Lyons Jnr's death came just weeks after his teenage daughter passed away from illness. The relative added: 'Ross obviously did what he did and the family accept that, but people have been saying some very horrible things. 'They have to remember Ross was a father and a son. Eddie had only just buried his daughter and so you can imagine this has hit everyone extremely hard — none more so than his brother Steven Lyons who is extremely upset.' The Lyons and Daniels have been at war for decades, with both sides involved in sickening violence. We told yesterday how the under-siege Daniels are said to have set aside £500,000 to deal with potential revenge attacks amid fears they would be wrongly blamed for the killings. A source said: 'Neither side can take the moral high ground but for once there is genuine shock at what's happened in Spain on both sides. 'The last thing the Lyons and the Daniels need is more bloodshed, so it's easy to see why they want to make it clear that these murders are the work of another crime gang operating outside Scotland.' Spanish cops are continuing to hunt the gunman who struck in Fuengirola on Saturday. Police Scotland has also ruled out claims the assassinations were plotted by warring mobsters here.
Sky News
41 minutes ago
- Sky News
New miscarriage of justice watchdog chair calls leadership 'unimpressive'
The watchdog that examines potential miscarriages of justice has "unimpressive" leadership and is "incompetent", said its new chair as she takes up her role. Dame Vera Baird has been appointed to head up the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC), which currently has serial child killer Lucy Letby's appeal in its inbox. The CCRC is an independent public body that reviews possible miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and refers cases to the appeal courts. The commission has had four critical reviews in the last 10 years, which Dame Vera said "all find the same thing". Speaking to Sky News after her appointment was announced, she said: "They don't communicate with applicants, are reluctant to challenge the Court of Appeal, they look for reasons not to refer rather than to refer and are quite often incompetent." Dame Vera is now charged with turning things around. She cites the example of Andrew Malkinson who was wrongly convicted of rape and spent 17 years in jail, when for most of that time DNA evidence had emerged that could have cleared his name. He had applied three times to the CCRC but was rejected twice on cost-benefit grounds. It's one of several cases leading to calls for "root and branch" reform of the CCRC from the Justice Committee, which said the watchdog "has shown a remarkable inability to learn from its own mistakes". An inquiry by Chris Henley KC also found that case workers missed multiple opportunities to help Malkinson. The previous chair, Helen Pitcher, was forced to resign in January and chief executive Karen Kneller told the committee of MPs they needed a strong replacement. Ms Kneller said in April: "We don't have that figurehead and without that figurehead I think it is difficult for the organisation." But that replacement did not think much of her evidence to MPs. "I didn't find her impressive," said Dame Vera, who will be meeting her new colleague next week. "I was really quite concerned about, first of all, the kind of fairly sketchy way in which she even allowed that they got it wrong in Malkinson, and these assertions that she was sorry that people only judged them by the mistakes, and they all took them very seriously, but actually they were otherwise doing a very good job. "My fear is that the attitude in the case of Malkinson and others, points to there being an attitude that's not positive, that's not mission-driven, that is not go-getter in other cases. So, are they getting it done properly?" A month later, a committee of MPs said Ms Kneller's position was no longer tenable. Committee chairman Andy Slaughter said: "As a result of our concerns regarding the performance of the CCRC and the unpersuasive evidence Karen Kneller provided to the committee, we no longer feel that it is tenable for her to continue as chief executive of the CCRC." 3:06 In February, the CCRC received an application from Lucy Letby, the former nurse convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others. It's a high-profile, complex case, arriving at a significant moment of flux. Asked if she thought the CCRC could deal with it, Dame Vera said: "Remember I'm quite new to it. It will need complexity. It will need a team. It will need the readiness to commission reports, I would guess from what's been said about the lack of scientific value in some of the things that were asserted. "So it's going to be a very complex task." In the Baird Inquiry into Greater Manchester Police last year, Dame Vera strongly criticised the force. She has a reputation for exposing hard truths to institutions, but now she is the institution. She will need to drive the changes.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Wales' papers: Grandparents on trial and cat flap burglar
Copyright 2025 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.
