A Carlisle man has been handed a five-year prison sentence after a city takeaway boss was robbed of his vehicle at knifepoint as he made a delivery.
Tjay O’Neil, 31, pounced as the victim returned to his Mercedes following a drop-off to a customer at Briar Bank, Belah, between 10pm and 10.30pm on August 23 last year.
The unsuspecting driver initially went to the front passenger side of his vehicle to clear some items from the footwell. As he looked into his vehicle, a man — O’Neil — got into the driver’s seat.
Initially, the delivery man told Carlisle Crown Court, he believed it was a joke or prank by his colleagues. The male was asked to leave but didn’t.
And a second unidentified man then got into the back of the Mercedes armed with a knife.
“He tried to threaten me. Everything happened so fast,” the man told a jury. “As he swung the knife I kind of pushed myself out of the car. At that present moment I was in shock.”Prosecutor Kim Whittlestone said the automatic vehicle was slammed into drive by the robbers.
It was driven away erratically, crashed and dumped nearby in the area of Dene Crescent.
After the victim dialled 999, police responded. One officer saw O’Neil — topless and wearing shorts — run from the direction of Dene Crescent.
The PC gave chase and never lost sight of him as he went into an address on Briar Bank.
The officer went in and saw O’Neil, of Briar Bank, sat on a sofa. He was arrested on suspicion of robbery and in a first interview denied leaving the address that evening.
But when the Mercedes was forensically examined, DNA recovered from the steering wheel was matched to O’Neil, who was interviewed again. After taking a break, he changed his story and told police he had, in fact, been out in Carlisle that evening.
He claimed to have found the abandoned vehicle and suggested his DNA was present inside because he had lent in to search for money. He denied one charge of robbery but today, after a trial, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict. O’Neil was sentenced straight away by Judge Nicholas Barker.
