Five years for knife robbery on boy, 16

A robber who pointed a knife at a teenager after snatching his chain on a Black Country High Street has been jailed for five years.

Father-to-be Shakele Zaid, aged 25, grabbed his 16-year-old victim's jewellery before pushing him, pulling out the four-inch blade and asking: "What have you got for me?"

Zaid struck when the teenager, who had been riding his moped on Cradley Heath High Street, pulled over to check a problem with his exhaust, the court heard.

After snatching the chain, Zaid held the knife at hip level and pointed it at his victim as he rummaged through his pockets, stealing £12.50 before fleeing, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday.

The victim knew Zaid by his streetname of Shaq and was able to identify him to police.

Zaid, of Heath Road, Netherton, admitted the robbery, which happened at around 7.30pm on July 10 last year.

The court heard he had previously been jailed for 27 months for a robbery, in which he had pushed two boys aged 15 and 17 after demanding 50p from the younger one and grabbing a chain from the older boy.

He was two months into a 39-week suspended sentence for burgling two kiosks at Dudley's Merry Hill shopping centre when he carried out his most recent robbery.

Judge Amjad Nawaz said: "The victim was minding his own business and you produced a knife, searched his pockets and took money.

"This must have been, I'm sure, a frightening experience even though no injury was occasioned. The fear element must have been substantial."

Mr Gurdeep Garcha, defending, said: "He's finally come to realise that there's more to life than committing offences of this sort."

He said the prison sentence would cause Zaid a "considerable amount of pain" as he would now miss the birth of his son.