JAILED: Knifemen stabbed BMW driver in rush-hour Wolverhampton carjacking
An armed robber who stabbed a terrified man while stealing his BMW has been jailed for six and a half years.
Javaun Gray and his partner in crime Jamaine James struck as the man was sat in his stationary BMW in the morning rush hour.
He was waiting for a friend in Vicarage Road in All Saints, Wolverhampton, at 7.45am on April 26 when the attack was launched.
The engine was running and the driver's door window was open when the two men, both armed with large knives and their faces covered, pounced from behind the parked vehicle, a judge heard.
The pair lunged at the driver through the open window with their knives but when that did not get the required response they started to stab him, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told by Ms Katie Fox, prosecuting.
Gray struck the first blow and then tried unsuccessfully to block the escape of the victim who exited through a passenger door and was chased for a short distance by James who appeared to be attempting to slash him.
The robbers drove off in the BMW while the victim – whose phone was in the vehicle – flagged down a passer by to alert police.
Officers found the car in Edwards Street, Parkfield, with 21-year-old Gray and James, aged 18, standing alongside it, continued Ms Fox.
Both ran off but were arrested after a search with police dogs, one of which found Gray under a bush.
His coat was spattered with the blood of the victim who was taken to hospital with slash wounds to his shoulder and armpit along with puncture wounds to the left hand.
He confessed to police: "I feel lucky I haven't been killed."
Both defendants had previous convictions for robbery. Gray received two years detention in a Young Offenders Institution after robbing a taxi driver at knifepoint in July 2016.
James was not armed when he stole a bicycle after threatening its rider in August 2016.
He admitted being in possession of an offensive weapon and robbing the driver.
Gray denied both offences but was convicted after a trial during which James gave evidence against him.
James, from Hele Road, Torquay, who had his sentence halved for assisting the prosecution and received further credit for his guilty plea, was given two years three months detention in a Young Offenders Institution with a further six months added for an unrelated offence.
Gray of Raby Street, All Saints received an extended sentence which he must serve at least two thirds of behind bars and will be monitored two years longer than normal on release.
Judge James Burbidge QC told him: "You are a dangerous offender who presents a significant risk to the public now and in the future."
