Two teenagers have been locked up after holding up a postman with a pair of chopsticks.
Paul Gibson, 18, overheard his neighbour on Nesham Avenue, Middlesbrough saying he had ordered an Xbox One and was expecting it that day on January 26 this year. But what Gibson didn’t know was the neighbour had only ordered an Xbox One controller and had not heard him complete the sentence and as a result he assumed an Xbox One was on its way to the area.
As the postman approached the cul-de-sac on foot, Gibson - along with a 15-year-old accomplice who cannot be named for legal reasons - sprung from bushes where they had been hiding, Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday.
Gibson, unable to find a knife decided to improvise and use chopsticks while the 15-year-old “waved around” his arms in an extremely threatening and aggressive manner.
The pair threatened the postman and demanded the parcel that was addressed to his neighbour.
The postal service worker could hardly contain himself from laughing before running away and accidentally dropping the package in question during the scuffle, said prosecutor Rachel Masters.
Ms Masters said: “The victim was laughing so much. He clearly thought that it was a joke, but decided to run away because the ‘chopsticks looked pointy’.”
Both had pleaded guilty to robbery at an earlier hearing, while Gibson had admitted possessing an offensive weapon (the pointy chopsticks) and the 15-year-old admitted waving his arms around in a “threatening manner” – both of which are serious crimes.
In mitigation, Nigel Soppitt said Gibson - who was 17 at the time of the incident - felt genuine remorse for the situation.
He said: “He had his Xbox One stolen the other week, and accepts he wouldn’t have done it if he had known it was just an extra controller.
“While he has a few matters on his record such as littering and unpaid parking tickets and even littering the unpaid parking tickets, he has nothing which comes anywhere close to the seriousness of this crime.
“He is a silly boy. I am not going to try and say that this was a prank. Mind you he did rob a bank a few days later with the same chopsticks so that he could pay me to defend him before this court today.”
Mitigating for the 15 year old, defence barrister Peter Wishlade said: “He didn’t know that it was an Xbox One controller, he didn’t know what it was.”
Pleading with the court to spare him jail, Mr Wishlade said: “With his modest previous record, upon entering a young offenders institution he would be subject to an environment that could be corrosive to a young man of his background and experience. Especially since they only have PlayStation 1s and no Xbox Ones.”
Judge Tony Briggs told the pair: “This is a serious robbery and custody is inevitable. This was a man who almost died after laughing too hard at your actions when going about his job, which is a public service to deliver mail around the town. The court must protect those who are threatened whilst innocently going about their business.”
Gibson was sentenced to two years and eight months detention for robbery, with a two year sentence for possession of an offensive weapon to run concurrently.
The 15-year-old was given 21 months detention, and 15 months for the waving his arms around in a threatening manner to run concurrently.
Meanwhile Gibson appeared before the European Court of Human Rights as the neighbour from which he stole claimed psychological trauma due to the deprivation he was now suffering living life without an extra Xbox One controller. Gibson was forced to pay £761 compensation.
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