A young man who was masked and used a knife as he tried to carry out a Lake District robbery in the dead of night has been jailed for more than three years.
Carlisle Crown Court heard today how serious violence flared at a former chapel converted into flats in Ambleside during the early hours of 23rd August, 2020.
Several men had watched a boxing bout and then remained in a communal lounge area.
Four men wearing balaclavas or masks, and carrying weapons then burst in. One of them was Luca Hastie, now aged 21, who was armed with a knife and wearing a hockey-style mask.
The victim ended up in a kitchen, was backed into a corner and heard a man demand: “Give me your money. Give me everything you’ve got.”
Holding the blade, Hastie lunged towards the male and swung it towards his head and shoulder. The male raised his arm in a desperate bid to defend himself, suffered a wound to the wrist and began to feel dizzy.
The next thing he remembered was being in a neighbour’s flat, receiving first aid to his wrist, which was bleeding heavily. He was taken to hospital where the wound was stitched.
But the impact of the incident had been profound, a judge heard, causing the victim nightmares, leaving him feeling “shaky and jittery”, losing weight and needing time off work. “The incident has left him feeling stressed, on a short fuse,” said prosecutor Gerard Rogerson. “He has tried to forget about it. Especially with Covid, people wearing masks, that makes him feel on edge and brings the incident back to him.”
Police arrested a number of people, including Hastie, who initially tried to run away from police. A partial profile of the victim’s blood was found on one of Hastie’s training shoes and provocative Snapchat messages were also later recovered.
The knife was never found. Two others detained in the aftermath had been released without further action and no one else had been prosecuted.
Hastie, of Bankfield, Ings, near Kendal, later admitted a charge of attempted robbery and was sentenced by Recorder Ian Unsworth QC, who heard mitigation and submissions on behalf of the defendant.
Recorder Unsworth jailed him for a total of 45 months.
