A Carlisle 19-year-old whose role in the attempted robbery emerged after his DNA was found on a vape dropped on a path at his victim’s home has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Lewis Shields-Cromar, went with another man to the city address of the victim, who had advertised jewellery for sale with a price of £2,400 on Facebook’s Marketplace.
The seller had been contacted several times by a Facebook user in late September and early October last year about the chain, and it was agreed they would go to the man’s Newlaithes Avenue home on October 9.
Nobody turned up on that date. But days later two men arrived at the seller’s address and were invited inside.
Carlisle Crown Court heard the seller became suspicious about his two visitors, who had their faces partially covered and appeared reluctant to fully face the householder. As a result he decided to tell them he had already agreed to sell the chain and that it was no longer available.
“When they came to the hallway the two men pushed him to the floor and went to grab his pocket which was where the chain was,” said prosecutor Claire Larton.
The man’s wife and adult son also desperately tried to intervene before the men left their home. The man’s pocket was ripped and he suffered an injured arm. “The chain was later found a short distance away where it appeared to have been dropped,” said Ms Larton.
DNA on a vape found on the pathway gave a match for Shields-Cromar, who was also linked to the Facebook enquirer’s IP address.
Shields-Cromar, of Meadow View, Carlisle, was sentenced at the crown court today, having admitted attempted robbery after initial denials.
He was also punished for four separate offences. These were the handling of a Honda quad bike which had been stolen from a farm near Penrith on May 10 last year; carelessly driving the machine as it was involved in a short, late night police pursuit; assaulting an officer in the aftermath by striking him; and damaging the PC’s glasses.
Shields-Cromar was said by his barrister to have shown a clear lack of maturity, and was attempted to mend his ways in custody having been remanded since late December. “He is not a lost cause,” insisted Anthony Parkinson, mitigating.
The teenager had also served the equivalent of 113 days in custody on a curfew.
This, said Recorder Julian Shaw, would mean any immediate prison sentence imposed today would be relatively short with no proper support structure being available thereafter.
Recorder Shaw said Shields-Cromar’s robbery bid — actually a robbery, he noted — had shown shocking disregard for the sanctity of somebody else’s home.
But he suspended a 15-month prison sentence for two years and imposed rehabilitation work, 200 hours’ community service, a two-month night time curfew and a three-month driving ban.
“I am persuaded, just, that you are a young man who probably doesn’t deserve a chance but you are going to get one today from this particular judge,” concluded Recorder Shaw, who warned: “Come back before this court, Mr Shields-Cromar, at your peril.”
