Knife attack teenager sentenced to 32 months’ youth detention

Martin Eastwood (16) forced two boys to their knees and robbed them at knifepoint in Richmond Park, Sheffield, on March 12 last year.

Sheffield Crown Court heard on Wednesday how Eastwood brandished a six-inch kitchen knife and demanded the passwords for each boy’s phone.

One hour later, he had advertised a stolen iPhone, valued at £700, for sale online.

The other phone was never recovered, as Eastwood refused to co-operate with police.

The court heard that Eastwood was subject to a court referral order for a previous offence at the time.

A year later, on March 1, while awaiting sentence for robbery and possessing a knife in public, Eastwood struck again in Rotherham.

He approached another teen outside a village hall on Waleswood Road, Kiveton Park, offering to sell him cannabis.

When the boy declined to buy, Eastwood stabbed at him with a kitchen knife, before demanding his wallet and running off.

The court heard that the wallet contained personal documents and £800 in cash.

Eastwood, of Smelter Wood Rise, Stradbroke, Sheffield, was picked out of a line-up and made no comment at interview, though he confessed at court to robbery and brandishing the knife.

Prosecutor Mr David Wain read impact statements from Eastwood’s victims.

One said: “He said he knew my face and I was worried he would find out where I lived and there would be further incidents.

“I am living in fear that his mates will be round to cause trouble with me. I’ve had to change my life and my social activity.”

Another said: “When he tried to stab me I thought I was fighting for my life.

“Now I’m looking over my shoulder wherever I go.”

Mr Kevin Waddingham, mitigating for Eastwood, who admitted robbery, said his client had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder aged just six.

“That he was diagnosed so young perhaps suggests that the symptoms were quite marked,” said Mr Waddingham.

“It remains a prevailing problem for him in his day-to-day life.”

He added: “Martin depends on his mother to a very significant extent and also feels a certain duty to look after her and his younger sisters.

“Doctors say this brings pressures on him, contributing to an elevated anxiety level.

“He demonstrates rare incidents of anger and loss of control at home and with his peers.”

Mr Waddingham urged Recorder Miss Felicity Davies to deal with Eastwood via a community order.

But Miss Davies sentenced Eastwood to 14 months’ detention and training for each Sheffield robbery, to run concurrently.

She sentenced him to 18 months for the Rotherham robbery, running consecutively to this.

Miss Davies added three months concurrent for possessing a knife in the 2015 incident, with six months concurrent for carrying a weapon during the robbery last month.

The fact that Eastwood was on bail for the earlier offences when committing the later ones was a significant aggravating factor, she explained.

She said: “These offences were so serious that only immediate detention is appropriate.”