Knife-wielding robber jailed over theft from pub

A man who threatened pub staff and a shopkeeper with a knife after taking crack cocaine has been jailed for more than four years.

William Leathem, 40, demanded money from workers at the Ginger Goose pub in Bradford after he was asked to leave the premises.

After leaving with £60 from the till, he entered a nearby mobile phone shop while still holding the knife and attempted to steal a phone, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Leathem, of Alcester Garth, Bradford, admitted robbery, attempted robbery, possession of bladed articles and assaulting an emergency worker and was sentenced to four years and eight months.

The sentencing heard Leathem was spotted by a police officer on Sunbridge Road on 26 February, with the officer tackling him to the ground.

Police used an incapacitant spray to subdue him after he resisted arrest, the court heard, and he was found to be carrying two knives.

During a police interview, Leathem claimed he was being "hunted" and couldn't recall brandishing the knife in the pub.

Judge Sophie McKone said Leathem had taken the decision to take crack cocaine, adding: "It makes you act in a paranoid way believing things that aren't true."

The court heard Leathem had experienced issues with alcohol and drug addiction from the age of 12.

Jailing him, the judge imposed a five-year restraining order banning him from both the pub and the mobile phone shop.

"The people that work in the city centre here in Bradford, whether serving in pubs or running their own shops, are entitled to feel safe and secure and not be the subject of violent threats with knives," she told Leathem.

"When the police arrived they very bravely tackled you with that knife, but you were waving it around."

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