A GIRL has told a jury she heard two teens plotting a knifepoint robbery shortly before a woman was attacked at a cashpoint by a masked blade-carrying crook.
Two males are on trial at Carlisle Crown Court. Paul Stuchfield, 19, and a 14-year-old boy who can’t be identified, each deny conspiracy to rob on January 16.
Jurors have heard a woman was approached in darkness at around 6pm that day by a hooded 16-year-old male at an ATM in central Penrith.
Holding a knife, the hooded youth demanded money before snatching the woman’s bag after a desperate struggle. She suffered puncture marks to her lower body and tearfully told a 999 operator moments after her attacker fled: “I am just in shock.”
A knife with a blade bent almost to 90 degrees was recovered from the crime scene. The woman’s cashcard and car keys were later found at the home of the perpetrator who, jurors were told, admitted carrying out the robbery.
Giving evidence this afternoon (WED), a teenage girl told jurors she heard Stuchfield, of Kirkoswald, near Penrith, and the 14-year-old boy speaking just after 4pm that day.
Of Stuchfield, she recalled: “He said that him and (the 16-year-old) were going to cover their faces and rob a woman with a knife.”
She said the 14-year-old told how he and Stuchfield then planned to take stolen property off the 16-year-old once he committed the robbery.
The trial continues.
