A young Coventry man who took part in a violent street robbery in Kenilworth after he had already been arrested for instigating an affray at a house in the town has been jailed.
Jordan Pye had pleaded guilty to the robbery on a basis that was rejected by a judge at Warwick Crown Court, and also admitted a charge of affray.
Pye (21) of Daventry Road, Coventry, was jailed for a total of two years after the judge gave him a discount to allow for time he had been subject to a curfew while on bail.
One of three other young men in the dock, Caleb Wayou (19) of Yarmouth Green, Coventry, who also admitted the affray, in which he had a knife, was jailed for 12 months, consecutive to a two-year sentence he is already serving for robbery.
But the other two, Kyle Metcalf (22) of Bridgeman Road, Coventry, and Prince Kandemiiri (22) of Queen Margarets Road, Coventry, who denied the affray charge but were convicted after a trial, escaped being jailed.
They were given 12-month community sentences by Recorder Christopher Tickle, who ordered them to do 240 hours of unpaid work each, and for Metcalf to pay £2,500 costs and Kandemiiri to pay £1,000.
Prosecutor Christopher Hewertson said that in April last year, while his mother and step-father were away for the weekend, a 16-year-old boy invited a group of friends round to their home in Coventry Road, Kenilworth.
The affray was triggered by an incident between Pye and a girl at the party, who had some hostility towards his girlfriend, when he turned up, having been invited by another of the guests.
“That culminated in her throwing a brick through the rear window of his car, a white Vauxhall Corsa.
“He was not happy about that, and went off and recruited his mates, in particular Kyle Metcalf, and they recruited Prince Kandemiiri and Caleb Wayou.”
They drove back to Kenilworth intent on retribution for what had happened, and to get someone to pay for the damage, ‘and they were not shy about using a degree of force to achieve that.’
They piled out of the car and, with Wayou armed with a knife, went to the back of the house and pushed their way into the kitchen as the terrified teenagers tried to hold the door shut.
One girl had barricaded herself in the bathroom, but Wayou barged in, held the knife to her stomach and took her phone before the four ran from the house and up the road to the car.
Then at the beginning of October, before appearing in court for the affray, Pye was involved in a robbery.
He and three 15-year-olds had bought balaclava masks during the day, before driving to Kenilworth later at night.
As they drove through the town they spotted the young man who was to be their victim, and Pye turned into a side street where he then turned the car round ready for a quick get-away.
Pye entered his plea on the basis that he got out and stood on the opposite side of the road, and that it was the other occupants of his car who attacked the victim, knocking him to the ground and kicking him before making off with his wallet.
Asked why he drove to Kenilworth after a robbery had been suggested by one of the others, he said: “I didn’t want to rob anyone. I guess I’m easily persuaded. I don’t like to say no, because I don’t like to disappoint people.”
But he claimed he took no part in the attack, and crossed the road only to pull one of the others away, and said he did not know how the wallet ended up in the driver’s foot-well, where it was found when the police stopped the car.
His barrister Jonathan Veasey-Pugh suggested to the victim that only three people attacked him, but he insisted all four had been involved.
And rejecting Pye’s version, Recorder Tickle said: “I am satisfied the others all piled in and that this defendant joined the attack. I don’t have to find he did any of the actual kicking, he is there, and he’s not just standing around doing nothing.”
Lynette McClement, for Wayou, said he was already serving a two-year sentence imposed in July last year for robbery, and if he had been sentenced for the affray after entering his plea in December, ‘he would have made significant inroads into it’ by now.
Stuart Dingle, for Kandemiiri, said his involvement was an aberration, and since the affray he had undertaken an ‘access to health care’ course, and is due to begin a social care degree course at Wolverhampton University in September.
Curtis Myrie, for Metcalf, said he works as a labourer for his father’s company, working at night digging holes for electrical installations, and earning £800 a week.
And for Pye, in relation to the affray, Mr Veasey-Pugh said: “I would ask you to take into account the considerable provocation of the criminal damage to his motor car.”
Sentencing the four, Recorder Tickle observed: “Those young teenagers were plainly scared out of their wits. They were so scared that some of those upstairs jumped out of windows.”
