Two young thugs high on drugs and armed with a cut-throat razor robbed a Good Samaritan just yards from a busy railway station, a court has heard.
Jordon Davies and Carlton Baker lured their victim to a car park under the false pretence that somebody was seriously ill. They then brandished a razor and the terrified victim handed over money from his wallet.
One of the robbers has a previous conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm when he stabbed somebody in the face with a kitchen knife in a chip shop while the other had been handed a suspended prison sentence the day before the station attack for beating a man with a metal bar.
Swansea Crown Court heard the robbery took place on the early evening of January 13 last year near the station in High Street, Swansea.
Ian Wright, prosecuting, said the victim had just called his wife to arrange to be collected at the other end of his journey when he was approached by Davies. The teenager told his victim his friend had suffered an overdose needed help.
Mr Wright said the would-be passenger and Davies headed towards the nearby multi-storey car park and were followed by Baker.
As the group approached the bridge which leads to the car park the victim became concerned about what was happening and at that point 19-year-old Davies reached into the JD Sports shoulder bag he was carrying and grabbed a cut-throat razor.
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The prosecutor said the teenager demanded money from the man and threatened to kill him. The terrified victim retrieved £35 from his wallet, and handed it over. Davies and 21-year-old Baker then ran off up High Street.
The court heard the victim went into the railway station and sought help from the British Transport Police. An officer accompanied the man out of the station and the victim spotted his assailants still in the area. The officer gave chase on foot and the robbers stopped when the constable warned them he had a Taser.
In interview Davies said he had taken Valium on the day in question and claimed he had the cut-throat razor to trim his beard. Baker said he too had taken Valium and had no recollection of what had happened.
Davies – who is also known as Jordan Millington – of Ceri Road, Townhill, Swansea, and Baker, formerly of Neath Road, Hafod, Swansea, but now of no fixed abode, both admitted robbery while Davies also pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article.
Davies has a previous conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent from 2018 – an offence which had seen him stabbing his victim in the face and arms with a kitchen knife in a chip shop in the Penlan area of Swansea. He was made the subject of an intensive supervision surveillance order for that matter.
The court heard that the day before the station robbery Baker had been handed a 10-month suspended prison sentence for battery, possession of offensive weapons, and possession of Valium which followed him hitting someone with a metal bar and threatening him with a broken bottle in Gorseinon.
Hywel Davies, for Davies, said the defendant had experienced "a rather troubled upbringing" and suffered with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder for which he had been "self-medicating" with Valium.
He said his client was now being properly medicated for his mental health problems and aspired to become a "better big brother" to his young sister.
Paul Hobson, for Baker, acknowledged that this client's position was aggravated by the fact the offence had been committed the day after being handed a suspended prison sentence.
Judge Geraint Walters said the victim was a "Good Samaritan" who had wanted to help when approached outside the station by Davies and had then effectively been "lured" into a secluded spot in order to be robbed.
Giving the defendants a one-quarter discount for their guilty pleas the judge sentenced Davies to 45 months detention and Baker a total of 42 months in prison comprising three years for the robbery and an activation of six months of the previously-imposed suspended sentence to run consecutively. Both defendants will serve up half those periods in custody before being released on licence.
