A teenager mugged three boys as they walked home from school. But when he tried the same thing the next day, police caught up with him, Bristol Crown Court heard.
The three boys were walking along the Bristol and Bath Railway Path when they encountered a group including Kavell Common, who approached them and asked them for the time and where they lived. He then took them to a secluded spot and, hinting he had a weapon, robbed them of their mobile phones.
Common, 18, of Holly Road in Dartford, pleaded guilty to three robberies in September 2020. The court heard he had no previous convictions.
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The recorder Mr Tom Brown handed him 12 months prison, suspended for 18 months. He told Common today (Wednesday, February 23): "You were waiting there with others with a view to robbing young people of their mobile phones as they were going home from school."
Common was ordered to undergo 80 hours' unpaid work and 45 days' rehabilitation. He was told to pay £200 compensation and £200 costs.
Nicola Wood, prosecuting, said it was near an underpass below Forest Road when Common told the boys to follow him from the path, and kept tapping what appeared to be a knife or an axe in his waistband. He said if they shouted out he would "chef" them and they handed over their phones, one of which included a debit card in the case.
The next day a friend of the boys had a similar encounter, the court heard, but when asked for his phone he left the scene. Police called in found Common a five to 10 minutes' walk away, and when he was arrested he was found with a phone stolen from one of the three boys the previous day. All three victims identified him in separate identity parades.
Common told police he had no recollection of the day before, the court heard. He said someone gave him what he thought was cannabis and he had no memory of anything until being at his Gran's home later. He said he was arrested before being able to hand in the stolen phone.
Michael Gomulka, defending, said at the time his client was living on the street and with a gang, engaged in criminal activity. But Common had not reoffended, the court heard, was working and supporting family members. Mr Gomulka said: "He has turned himself into quite an exceptional young man."
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