A PROSTITUTE and her partner who tried to rob a student by forcing him at knifepoint to a cash machine have escaped being jailed so they do not lose their home.
Darren Webb’s barrister successfully argued that if he and Jennifer Morgan came out of prison and were homeless, ‘they would feel they had no option other than to re-offend.
Webb (49) and Morgan (44) both of Burns Close, Tile Hill, Coventry, had been found guilty of attempted robbery following a trial at Warwick Crown Court in May.
In addition Morgan was also convicted of stealing their victim’s wallet and Webb of possessing a bladed article, a Stanley knife, in Raglan Street, Hillfields, at the time.
And following an adjournment for reports to be prepared on them, they were both given two-year prison sentences suspended for two years – with a 9pm to 7am curfew for 90 days.
Recorder Nicholas Syfret QC also ordered them to take part in a drug rehabilitation programme and a rehabilitation activity.
During their trial the jury heard that in January last year a Coventry university student was walking home late at night through the red light area of Hillfields.
He said he was approached by Morgan, who was working as a prostitute, and she put her hand into his pocket and took his wallet, which he demanded back.
The student was then faced with a demand for £100 which was reinforced by Webb who joined Morgan and produced a Stanley knife, said prosecutor Tariq Shakoor.
The couple ordered the student to go with them to a nearby cashpoint, but as they led him there he spotted a passing police car and ran to it to report what was happening.
When they were then arrested, they claimed there had been no knife and no demand for money.
They claimed it was the student who had approached Morgan and had ‘come on’ to her, talking about wanting to ‘do business,’ and had sexually assaulted her by putting his hand up her skirt.
And they asserted that he was making false allegations because she had threatened to report him to the police.
But the jury took just over two hours to find Morgan and Webb both guilty by unanimous verdicts.
Following the adjournment for reports to be prepared on them, Rebecca Wade, for Webb, said: “There are three matters which we suggest may enable Your Honour to take a more lenient course.
“There is the delay, and that this was an attempt rather than the full offence.”
Pointing out that the Court of Appeal says sentences for an attempt should involve a discount of a third to a half from the guideline for the completed offence, she argued: “It would enable Your Honour to take it down to two years, which is suspendable.”
Recorder Syfret commented: “I regard this as a joint enterprise. They were acting together, and a young man was the victim of perfectly calculated criminal behaviour.”
Miss Wade said: “The feature present in both their cases is that they would lose their accommodation if they went to custody, and in their lives, that would be catastrophic.
“They have not offended for some time, and Mr Webb has engaged with Change, Grow, Live.
“The setback of a custodial sentence is that they would come out homeless – and that would not be commensurate with Your Honour’s public duty, because if they were on the street they would feel they had no option other than to re-offend,” she argued.
And after reading the reports on the couple, Recorder Syfret said that in view of the progress they had made since the incident, he was prepared to suspend the sentence.
