Robber caught in Leicester in victim's jacket jailed on appeal
A robber who was caught wearing his victim's jacket has been locked up after his suspended jail sentence was quashed.It comes after a man on his way home from a night out in Leicester in May last year was grabbed and dragged into a car.A group slapped him, threatened him with a kitchen knife and forced him to hand over belongings including a phone, ear pods, tablet, trainers, tracksuit, designer bag and a jacket worth about £1,300.Zakaria Mohamed had been given a suspended jail sentence at Leicester Crown Court in December but the Court of Appeal has ruled this was unduly lenient and the 27-year-old has now been imprisoned.
Leicester Crown Court heard that following the robbery, police caught Mohamed outside a nightclub handling and inspecting the stolen items, wearing the victim's jacket.In his impact statement, the victim said the robbery had led to him moving to another city and he continues to feel vulnerable every time he goes out.
'A stark warning'
Mohamed pleaded guilty to robbery, driving without a licence and driving without insurance on 3 October 2024 at Leicester Crown Court and at the same court on 19 December he was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment suspended for two years.Solicitor General Lucy Rigby MP intervened and referred the case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.The sentence was increased to a total of four years and nine months' imprisonment at London's Court of Appeal on 25 February.Rigby said the "violent robbery" was "horrific" and added: "The substantial sentence increase following my intervention should serve as a stark warning that crime and lawlessness will not be tolerated."Co-defendant Khalid Aadan, 21, of Marwood Road in Leicester, was also sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on 19 December.He was jailed for 24 weeks in total for handling stolen goods and possession of a knife in a public place.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
a day ago
- Daily Record
Drug dealer who splashed out on life of luxury ordered to pay back just £96,000
Danielle Stafford, 31, splashed out on tens of thousands of pounds on glitzy watches and Louis Vuitton bags. A drug dealer who splashed out on a luxury life has been ordered to pay back just £96,000 after her operation was unravelled by pure chance. Danielle Stafford, 31, formerly of Hallgate, Cottingham, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in April 2023. She admitted to three offences of being concerned in supplying heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis, and another of possessing cash as criminal property, on dates spanning October 2017 to May 2020. She was sent down at Hull Crown Court. The court heard how Stafford, a University of Hull graduate and former engineer, had splashed out on nine watches and three Louis Vuitton handbags. The case was heard again at the same court recently, where prosecutors determined how much money Stafford made from her criminal activities. Prosecutor Nadim Bashir said a criminal benefit figure had been agreed at £96,263. Stafford has been ordered to repay the funds within three months. If she fails to do so, she will face more jail time. Stafford was snared by cops after she was clocked speeding in 2020. The motor was stopped by police, where she "immediately lied", telling cops: "Ill be honest, I've got this" and went on to hand a small silver wrap containing two buds of cannabis skunk. Police went on to find cannabis on her, including a food bag containing cannabis skunk and, from a pocket, another food bag containing cannabis skunk. While on the way to the police station, Stafford was seen "fidgeting" with her jogging bottoms and was asked if she had more drugs hidden. She then pulled out a bag containing a large amount of small bags of cocaine. Police said there were 56 wraps, valued at £2,800. When police searched her property in Cottingham, they found cocaine valued at £13,500 and an estimated £4,100 of heroin in a jar. Stafford denied knowledge of them. An estimated £2,500 of herbal cannabis was found in an empty banana box and bank notes totalling £670 as well as £2,350 and £1,480 in cash. More cash, valued at £7,580 was found in a safe, but she denied it was hers. Mr Bashir said Stafford was an "enthusiastic" cannabis dealer and had become a cocaine dealer. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. He added: "The natural result of this was that she was able to accumulate a substantial amount of wealth, including purchasing an investment property, a house to rent. Cash found in her home address amounted to £26,917. "The contents of her home address in Hallgate, Cottingham, is strong evidence of the nature of her drugs business. The amount, type and value of drugs found at her home were substantial. The drugs alone were street valued at £33,600. This is sustained drug dealing."
STV News
2 days ago
- STV News
'I believe my son is innocent, is our 17-year nightmare finally over?'
The mum of a serial killer nurse says she hopes her '17-year nightmare' is finally ending after an appeal into her son's murder conviction drew to a close on Friday. Glaswegian Colin Campbell – formerly known as Colin Norris – was convicted in 2008 of murdering four women, and attempting to murder another, by injecting them with insulin at a hospital in Leeds, West Yorkshire. But the Court of Appeal has heard that new expert knowledge may mean the former nurse's conviction is unsafe. June Morrison, Colin's mum, told STV News that she has always believed in her son's innocence. 'We have never believed that he is guilty of any of this,' she said. 'We have always believed these women were not murdered. There were other things going on with their health. They had a lot of underlying conditions. 'Whatever decision is made about Colin, it affects the whole of our family. It affects the rest of our lives. If it does not go the way we want it to, we are going to have to start thinking about another campaign because we cannot just stop there. STV News June Morrison. 'We need to keep fighting. I think we can appeal against this appeal, but again, you have got to go through the process of having new evidence or new arguments. 'I have not been able to sleep because of the stress. I am not eating properly. He is on my mind constantly. When I do sleep, I wake up thinking about Colin.' Norris was convicted of killing Doris Ludlam, 80, Bridget Bourke, 88, Irene Crookes, 79, and 86-year-old Ethel Hall at Leeds General Infirmary and the city's St James' Hospital in 2002. He was also found guilty of attempting to murder 90-year-old Vera Wilby. All the women were elderly inpatients in 2002 on orthopaedic wards where Campbell worked and each developed severe, unexplained hypoglycemia. STV News (Left to right) Ethel Hall, Bridget Bourke, Irene Crookes and Doris Ludlam. Campbell was alleged to have been present when or shortly before each of the patients suffered hypoglycemia and, because of the rarity of such a cluster of cases happening within a short space of time, prosecutors said the nurse must have been responsible. A total of 20 experts gave evidence during a five-month trial at Newcastle Crown Court after which Campbell was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years. The judges – Lady Justice Macur, Sir Stephen Irwin and Mr Justice Picken – will now retire to consider their verdict on whether the evidence that led to Colin's conviction was unsafe. June said: 'It still doesn't feel as if it's real. It is a scary time. We are hopeful as well, but it has been quite frightening at times. You are left feeling is this finally it? 'Is this nightmare that we have been going through for over 17 years finally ending? It has been going on for longer than that, but Colin has been in prison for 17 years. Norris has been serving life imprisonment at HMP Frankland in County Durham since an investigation concluded that the women in his care developed unexplained severe hypoglycaemia while in hospital. 'A lot of these families, they believed that their loved ones died naturally and then they were told there was a nurse that had murdered them,' said June. 'Me as a mother, I know my son is not capable of anything at that. It breaks my heart to think of these families and what they are going through. 'There are no winners. Because at the end of the day, if and when my son gets released, they are going to have to go through the process again of if my mother wasn't murdered, what are they to believe? I can't think for other families but for myself, no one wins.' 'I do think nurses need better protection in court. Some kind of expert that can represent them at a court because they don't have anything at the moment. 'They do have professional bodies but practicing nurses on wards need something more to help, to ensure that no other nurse or family has to go through this again.' While the court was off, June went down to Durham to see Colin in prison. 'I think he is just taking things day by day and hoping,' she said. 'What is it they say? Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. This is what we're hoping for. STV News 'I know the trial and a hearing are totally different, but being down in London, sitting on the court benches, it brings it all back. Colin is not there. He is on a TV screen so it is just a small picture that I can see. 'During the trial, I couldn't see Colin either because there was a screen between us. If I looked up, I could just see him. When you hear from the prosecution experts and they start saying 'my opinion is', it does take you right back. 'I have allowed myself to have thoughts of 'when he gets out, what we could do?' That is all a challenge. I have also had thoughts of 'what if he doesn't get out?' How do we start campaigning again? Who do we get on board? What happens with the legal team? 'All that goes through your mind, but at the moment I just get through the day. Coming into this, as a family, we had never been in trouble with the police. 'We never had any dealings with courts or anything like that, so it was hard to accept this was what was going to be happening for the next few years.' On the final day of Campbell's appeal in London on Friday, judges heard closing submissions from barristers representing the Crown Prosecution Service, who are opposing the appeal. In written submissions, James Curtis KC said the jury in Campbell's trial had the 'exceptional assistance of a meticulous, systematic and detailed summing up' from the judge. He added: 'They were provided with the necessary relevant facts and issues, from a plethora of highly qualified and clinically experienced witnesses. 'The judge carefully summarised and explained these, and accurately directed the jury as to how to approach them.' Michael Mansfield KC told the court on Thursday that Campbell's appeal is a 'straightforward case', and that judges 'must conclude that these convictions are unsafe'. Campbell has denied any wrongdoing and says he did nothing to cause hypoglycemia in any of the patients. He unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction in 2009 and applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2011. His appeal was heard after a review from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said new evidence created a 'real possibility' his conviction was unsafe. The CCRC referred his conviction to the Court of Appeal on the basis of new medical evidence in February 2021. It was agreed the new evidence could prove that natural causes may account for the hypoglycaemia in the four patients other than Mrs Hall. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Exeter drug trafficker's sentence increased
A drug trafficker has had his prison sentence extended after the Court of Appeal deemed his initial punishment too Wills, 36, from Bridford, Exeter, was sentenced to nine years in prison in March for his role in two organised crime groups that trafficked large quantities of cocaine across the country. However his sentence was increased to 14 years on Thursday after a referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme by Solicitor General Lucy was convicted at Exeter Crown Court of conspiracy to supply and possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs, as well as possession of a prohibited firearm. The court heard that between 2019 and 2020, Wills operated from a rented farmhouse, using outbuildings to store and package cocaine and cultivate cannabis. He was linked to a London-based foreign crime group supplying drugs to dealers in arrested Wills on 1 May 2020 after stopping his vehicle. A search of his property uncovered firearms, ammunition, and more than £46,000 worth of who has 33 previous convictions, including firearm offences, had been prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition since 2018. Despite this, he was convicted in 2021 for illegally possessing an air rifle and General Lucy Rigby said: "We know that the impact of organised crime on our communities is devastating and I welcome the court's decision to increase Wills' sentence following my intervention."Four other men have also been convicted for their roles in the gang.
