Teenage gang jailed for knifepoint attack (From Thisisdorset)

Teenage gang jailed for knifepoint attack

11:00am Tuesday 26th June 2012 in News By Julie Magee

A NIGHT OUT in Bournemouth ended in terror for two young men when they were robbed at knifepoint by a gang who fled with their mobile phones.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Mark Gerrity and Mehran Nickbakht had been walking towards the West Cliff, in the early hours of March 17, when violence flared.

Mr Nickbakht, who fainted after being struck to the face, was punched and kicked as he lay on the ground. He handed over his wallet and watch as Mr Gerrity was being punched to the face. One member of the gang demanded: “Give us your phone or I will knife you.”

Reece Scott, 18, from Fisherman’s Avenue, Southbourne admitted robbery, along with three juveniles who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

The court was told how the gang had been wearing hooded tops and had their faces hidden during the terrifying attack on Durley Chine Road which had involved a knife and a wooden rolling pin.

Student Mr Gerrity, 21, suffered facial bruising while Mr Nickbakht was unable to work and needed hospital treatment after sustaining a fractured sinus, eye injury and broken finger.

In a statement, Mr Nickbakht, 20, from Godalming, Surrey said he had two scars after the attack and still suffered headaches and difficulty sleeping. Following the attack he no longer goes out with his friends.

In Scott’s defence, the court heard that he accepted being “part of a gang enterprise” but had not used any physical violence on either victim.

He had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had not initiated the robbery, wishing he could now apologise to his victims for such “a despicable act.”

Judge Samuel Wiggs said: “I cannot pass anything other than an immediate custodial sentence; when people commit an offence as serious as this there has to be punishment.”

Scott and two of the juveniles involved in the robbery were sentenced to 32 months detention in a young offenders’ institution while the other juvenile was sentenced to 24 months detention.