Teenager who attacked taxi driver was snared by his phone sim card
A WALSALL teenager who decided to attack and rob a taxi driver for fun because he was "bored" only to be tracked down by police after using his own sim card in a mobile phone he stole during the incident has been sent to a Young Offenders' Institution for 15 months.
Naeem Iqbal was repeatedly punched about the head by Luke Joynes and his two accomplices before being robbed of his phone, car keys and about £3.50 in change.
But Joynes, of Hough, Pleck, was traced by investigating police officers after he put his own sim card into the stolen phone, revealing his name and address.
After his arrest, the 19-year-old told police officers they had been hoping to get a "wad of money" from the driver after calling him out to an address in Walsall.
Joynes admitted robbery and was told by Judge John Wait he was able to take an "exceptional" course in the case, adding: "I regard you as someone who can put his life back on the road again."
He said Joynes had acted completely out of character, but there was a degree of premeditation to the crime because the driver was a "vulnerable" victim who had been called out and targeted.
The court heard last Friday (January 28) how Mr Iqbal was struck by a number of blows in the attack, which happened in January 2010, and Joynes, after his arrest, had provided police with all the evidence they needed because of his total honesty.
"Everything I have read in reports about you indicates you can put this behind you when you have served your sentence," concluded the Judge.
Mr Stephen Cadwaladr, defending, said Joynes had shown great promise in life when "out of the blue he got involved in this criminal offence".
After passing sentence, the Judge called for an inquiry into the delay in getting the case before Wolverhampton Crown Court which he described as "absurd".
He said the robbery took place in January last year but for a considerable amount of time someone had been "sitting on the file", which was unfair to the defendant.
source:
http://www.thisiswalsallonline.co.uk/news/
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