Man sent to young offenders after admitting knifepoint robbery (From Croydon Guardian)

Levi Smith sent to young offenders institute after admitting knifepoint robbery

12:00pm Monday 17th September 2012 in News By James Pepper

An 18-year-old who robbed a young man of his moped at knifepoint has been put behind bars.

Levi Smith, of Carew Road, Thornton Heath, was sentenced to 30 months in a young offenders institute on September 5.

Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery after admitting he was one of two robbers who approached a group of youths sitting on their parked mopeds in Croydon Road, Beddington on Monday February 13.

The robbers singled out two of the youths and spoke to them separately before suddenly producing a knife. They stole their moped keys and crash helmets and rode off on their bikes.

One bike was recovered damaged a few hours later by nearby garages; the other bike, which was brand new, was found dumped in the grounds of a school in Kenley several weeks later.

In an investigation led by Sutton's Burglary and Robbery Investigation Team, officers captured vital forensic evidence from the scene where the bikes were stolen.

Assessing the area for CCTV resulted in evidential footage also being found that formed a crucial part of the case.

This evidence led police to identify Smith who was arrested on March 3 at his home address where the crash helmet and gloves belonging to one of the boys was found. The other robber remains unidentified.

Detective constable Charlie Lourenco, of Sutton Police station said: "I would like to thank the youths for their courage in coming forward, giving statements to police and providing the evidence used to convict these offenders. Knife crime is rare in Sutton and is a particularly nasty crime, so we were determined to get a result in court."