Teens involved in terrifying armed robbery at Sheffield store avoid prison

The terrifying raid took place at the Sainsbury’s Local store in Bradway Road, Bradway at around 9.30pm on June 23 this year.

19-year-old Bradley Hickman entered the store with a sword with his face covered, while his 15-year-old co-defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, waited outside and acted as ‘look-out,’ Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Judge Rachael Harrison said: “Hickman you went into the shop and demanded that a member of staff open the till. You were swearing at him and said: ‘I’m not f****** around’ and pointed a sword at him. There was at least one member of the public in the store.”

She told the boy: “You knew Bradley acted younger than his age, and that the shop had been robbed before.”

The court was told how the staff member threatened by Hickman was working alone when the incident took place.

CCTV obtained by the police shows Hickman and the boy approaching the store as part of a group of six young men, all of whom had their hoods up, in the moments before the incident took place.

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Police received information that Hickman was involved on the robbery a short time after it taking place, and he was arrested on June 26, said Brian Outhwaite, prosecuting.

During police interview, Hickman, of Edmund Close, Lowedges told officers he was given the sword used in the robbery ‘from a man up the road’ and said he had carried out the robbery with the boy.

The boy was subsequently arrested.

Hickman pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and possession of an offensive weapon at an earlier hearing, while the boy entered a guilty plea to a charge of robbery on the basis that he did not know a weapon would be used.

Neither defendant has any prior convictions.

Richard Adams, defending the boy, said: “This is a schoolboy who had largely gone off the rails during the course of 2019. He’s best described as wagging school, not really having any plan or ambitions for the future.”

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He added: “This is a young man, the eldest of three siblings, from a broken family. A family that has endured domestic violence.”

Matthew Burdon, defending Hickman, said his client suffered from intellectual difficulties and had an IQ of 70, placing him in the ‘bottom three per cent’.

“Having never had any contact with the criminal justice system, he found himself [remanded] in custody in June this year, in a rather distressing setting - especially for someone with his personal difficulties,” said Mr Burdon, adding that Hickman had also been struggling with a cannabis misuse problem.

Judge Harrison sentenced Hickman to 20 months in prison, suspended for 18 months; ordered him to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days and 100 hours of unpaid work.

The boy was sentenced to an 18-month youth rehabilitation order as well as a 12-week curfew, during which he will be required to be at his home address between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

Judge Harrison told the pair: “You have both tried to blame each other. Even now, I am not sure you understand the seriousness of what you have done.”

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