Black Mamba addict who robbed six people in Dudley is jailed for eight years

Five of the offences were committed in as many days by 25-year-old Dean Taylor who pulled a knife on one victim and threatened to stab others, a judge was told.

The prolific offender ambushed his former partner as she left her home on November 21 last year, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

He leapt from behind a skip and stifled her screams for help by putting his hand over her mouth and forcing her back into the property.

She dropped some of her possessions during the struggle and he grabbed her phone and a £5 note before running away chased by her, said Miss Blondelle Thompson, prosecuting.

Taylor threw the mobile at his ex after realising it was locked.

He robbed two teenagers of a mobile and change after threatening to stab them on the top deck of a bus travelling from Dudley to the Merry Hill shopping centre on December 30, continued the prosecutor.

The next day he stole a phone at knifepoint from a young man in Dudley High Street, and on New Year’s Day pushed a 70-year-old woman into her husband, knocking the 72-year-old man to the ground in High Street, Brierley Hill.

Taylor escaped with her handbag that contained a mobile phone, cash and gifts.

Finally he was given £10 after threatening to stab a passer-by in Mill Street, Brierley Hill, on January 3.

He was picked out on an ID parade by all his victims as being the man who robbed them.

Mr Mukhtar Ubhi, defending, said: “He has been addicted to Mamba and it has ruined his life.”

But the death of the defendant’s 21-year-old brother in prison from a Mamba overdose this year and the loss of his mother to cancer three months later had greatly affected Taylor, the court was told.

The lawyer added: “These came as huge blows to him and have changed his view on life. He now has the resolve to stay off drugs.”

Taylor from Rotton Park Road, Edgbaston, who started offending when aged 16, has been in custody since his arrest and recently tested drug free, it was said.

He pleaded guilty to the six robberies, assault and possession of a knife.

Judge Simon Ward ruled that he posed a significant danger to the general public and jailed him for eight years with two years more monitoring than normal on his release.

He must serve at least two thirds of the custodial term behind bars before being considered for parole.