A CARLISLE man convicted of robbing a schoolboy of his bicycle in a city park while holding a 3ft-long Samurai sword has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Jamie Chad Wilson approached the 13-year-old in Keenan Park at around 9-15pm on August 28 last year.
Giving evidence at Carlisle Crown Court, the boy – now aged 14 – told the court he had a bike and was walking with a friend near railway line arches in the Harraby area.
Wilson – high on alcohol and cocaine – approached, saying: “Giz a look at your bike.” “I dropped it to him,” said the teen. “Then he pulled a sword out with his left hand.” This was in a cover which was removed by Wilson who, said the boy, asked: “What could I do with this?”
Asked what was going through his mind, the teen said: “That he would do something to me.” Asked how he felt, he replied: “Shocked.”
Asked why he didn’t stop Wilson taking his bike, the boy replied: “Because he had that sword.” Wilson rode off and a different bike he had was taken home by the boy.
Wilson, 31, denied robbery and bladed article possession charges, claiming he and the boy merely swapped bikes. But he was convicted of both offences by a jury this afternoon (WED) after a trial. He was sentenced for those two crimes, and for the illegal possession of personal use amounts of cocaine and cannabis which were found when he was later arrested and searched.
Jeff Smith, defending, said Wilson’s life had been “spiralling out of control” at a time when he was in a “very bad place”. Of the drug and alcohol use, Mr Smith said: “One can only assume that had an impact upon the stupidity he exhibited on the evening in question.”
Jailing him for a total of 54 months, Recorder Richard Archer said: “It is clear to me there is not a shred of remorse for what you put the 13-year-old boy and (his friend) through. The jury have seen through the lies you told.”
Recorder Archer also said: “There can be no doubt as to the type of sentence. Only an immediate custodial sentence would suffice for offending of such seriousness.”
