Two prolific criminals have been jailed for a combined eight years for robberies in York in which the young victims were told they would be stabbed if they didn’t comply with their demands for cannabis, jewellery and money.
Simon Kay, 34, and David Nicholson, 43, pounced on the terrified victims in the city centre on 26 August, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Matthew Moore-Taylor said the first victim had just got back in his car in St Thomas’ Place in Guildhall when Kay and Nicholson crept up on him.
He tried to close the car door, but the robbers prevented this and asked him if he had “any weed” as they patted his pockets.
Nicholson grabbed hold of the young man’s arms and noticed that he was wearing a gold bracelet.
“Nicholson asked him if it was real gold and the victim, trying to keep his property, told him it was not,” added Mr Moore-Taylor.
Kay told Nicholson to take the bracelet from the victim who was sitting in the driver’s seat. As the victim tried to resist, Nicholson held his arms as he tried to wrench the bracelet from his wrist.
As he did so, Nicholson told Kay to “get your knife out”.
“Kay put his hand down the front of his shorts and gave the impression that he was holding something,” said the prosecutor. “(The victim) was very scared.”
Kay then put his finger to his lips in a shushing manner and told the petrified victim to be quiet.
“(The victim) did not call out for help for being in fear of being stabbed, but no knife was produced,” added Mr Moore-Taylor.
“Nicholson was unable to undo the clasp of the bracelet, so Kay forced the bracelet from the victim’s wrist, breaking it in the process.”
Nicholson then leant over the victim and asked him: “Where’s your money?”
He then searched the entire the car for cash, including in the boot and glove box.
Nicholson, who was “extremely aggressive” throughout, then went back to the driver’s seat and resumed patting the victim’s pockets. He then held a clenched fist and told the victim: “Give me anything you have.”
The victim said he “had nothing” and the robbers left.
Despite his ordeal, the victim managed to record the victims on his mobile as they walked away and it was this video footage, together with CCTV, that was later used to identify the robbers.
‘Just a kid’
Later that day, Nicholson and Kay came across a teenage boy in Monkgate where Kay asked him where he was from.
“Kay began to ask if he had any money or weed,” added Mr Moore-Taylor. “The victim said he had nothing.
The prosecutor said that on this occasion, Nicholson told Kay to “leave it” because the victim was “just a kid”.
However, Kay ignored him and told the young victim “not to do anything or he would stab him”.
Kay then put his hand under his top as if he was holding a weapon, although no knife was produced.
“Kay told him to pull down his trousers,” added Mr Moore-Taylor. When the victim refused, Kay patted him down.
“The victim showed him he had only his mobile phone and a packet of cigarettes,” said Mr Moore-Taylor. “Kay told him he could keep the phone but he took the cigarettes.–
The victim, who said that both men “appeared to be under the influence of something”, called his father and the police after they finally walked away.
CCTV operators in the city centre directed police to where the two men had been walking and they were subsequently arrested.
Nicholson – formerly of Leeman Road, York, but currently of no fixed address – wasn’t charged with the second robbery of the teenage boy but he was charged with the first robbery in St Thomas’ Place alongside his cohort.
After making initial denials, Kay ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and Nicholson admitted one count of robbery.
They appeared for sentence via video link on Friday (28 November) after being remanded in custody.
Mr Moore-Taylor said although no knives were produced in either incident, the victims were “in fear of what would happen to them if they didn’t comply”.
Prolific offenders
The court heard that Nicholson, a seasoned burglar and shoplifter, had 68 previous convictions for 144 offences including possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
Last year, he was jailed at Teesside Crown Court for stealing £4,000 of jewellery in Northallerton.
He was released from that sentence in April this year, moved into a hostel on prison licence and “got himself embroiled in this robbery”.
In June this year, just two months before the robbery in York, Nicholson was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence and a six-month drug-rehabilitation programme at York Crown Court for burglary.
In that incident, in September 2023, he broke into a sleeping couple’s home on Fulford Road, York, stealing a purse and contents including sentimental photos, gift cards and cash, along with the male victim’s Berghaus raincoat worth £110.
Kay, from York but currently of no fixed address, had 16 previous convictions for 32 offences including wounding, carrying a blade, aggravated burglary and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
In 2013, he received an eight-year jail sentence for aggravated burglary.
Defence barrister Eddison Flint, for Kay, said that his client, a father-of-one, had been released from his last prison sentence in 2017 and appeared to have “turned his life around”, even finding a job as a handyman and window cleaner.
However, he then split up with his partner and reverted to his old ways after developing a crack-cocaine habit and indulging in drink and drugs.
Nicholas Hammond, for Nicholson, said that his client was “primarily a shoplifter” and any minor violence on his record was from a long time ago.
Judge Sean Morris said the robbery victims “must have been terrified” after being confronted by two men “wandering around York, clearly either in drink or under the influence (and evidently) trying to get money for drink or drugs”.
He slammed Nicholson and Kay for their “shocking records” and said that only an immediate prison sentence could be justified for causing such “fear and distress” to the victims.
Kay was jailed for five years for the two robberies and Nicholson received a three-year jail sentence, made up of consecutive prison terms for the first robbery and breaching his existing suspended sentence.
Mr Morris told them they would likely serve half of those sentences, perhaps less, behind bars before being released on prison licence.
