Two teenagers jailed for robbing Warwick University student at knifepoint in Leamington town centre

Two young men who robbed a Warwick University student at knifepoint after they had followed him into the foyer of flats in Leamington town centre have been jailed.

Arhin Tutu and Luqman Ferej had both pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to robbing the student of his iPhone and Airpod wireless earphones, and Tutu also admitted having a knife.

Tutu (18) of Ascot Close, Coventry, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after Judge Anthony Potter rejected his claim that the knife in his waistband was only accidentally revealed.

And Ferej (19) of Widdecombe Close, Coventry, who had a hammer which was not produced during the incident, was jailed for three years and four months.

Prosecutor Omar Majid said that in February the victim, a Warwick University student, was on his way to a friend’s flat in Leamington town centre to watch a football match on TV.

But he was followed by Tutu and Ferej when he went down a passageway near the Parade – and as he pressed the buzzer to be let into the flats they approached him and demanded his Airpods.

The main door opened, and he rushed inside, but was not able to close it before they forced their way in behind him.

“They cornered him and repeated their demand. He said no, and one of them, Ferej, began gesturing as though he had a weapon, so he gave over the Airpods.

“They then demanded his phone. Tutu lifted his shirt, showing he had a knife in the waistband.

“He again refused to hand over his phone, and Tutu then lifted his shirt again and began pulling the blade out, although not fully, and eventually he handed over his phone.”

Not content with that, the pair began demanding his pin for the phone, but he refused – and before they could repeat their demand there was a noise of someone approaching, and they fled.

Their victim went into his friend’s flat from where he called the police, and when they were arrested a short distance away, Tutu still had the knife on him and Ferej had a hammer.

During a ‘trial of issue’ on his basis of plea, Tutu said he carried the knife with him as a matter of course, but that it had been exposed accidentally when his jacket flapped open.

He denied deliberately showing it or drawing it partly from his waistband – but that was rejected by Judge Potter.

Neither defendant had any previous convictions, and Mohammed Riaz, for Tutu, said he had written a letter to the judge expressing his regret and remorse for the offence.

“Since February he has taken steps to move forward. This was a moment of madness. He has asked me to ask Your Honour to take an exceptional course and give him a second chance.”

Colin Charvill, for Ferej, said: “It is unusual for someone of his age and character to do something like this as a first offence. He knows he has made a very, very big mistake. He did not himself produce a weapon, but he accepts it was there.”

Sentencing the pair, Judge Potter pointed out that Tutu will have to serve two-thirds of his sentence before he can be released under legislation introduced this year in relation to serious crimes involving sentences of more than four years.

He told them: “The unfortunate student was walking down the Parade in the town centre, going to watch football at a friend’s flat, yards from this court.

“You two came up behind him and demanded ‘Give me your Airpods.’ You Mr Ferej had your hood up in order to disguise your identity, but you Mr Tutu were more brazen.

“When he ran inside you did not think better of it and walk away, you forced your way in and repeated your demands.

“You Tutu deliberately lifted your shirt to show the knife in your waistband which you told me you carried as a matter of course.

“He handed over his Airpods, but your greed was such that you demanded his phone, and you Mr Tutu lifted your shirt again, and this time withdrew the knife largely out of your waistband.

“The impact was not just on him. Leamington is a town where many Warwick University students come, and where many live.

“Your arrogance in conducting a robbery in the centre of the town has had a real impact on students who have a right to come into the town without the fear of someone threatening them with a knife and taking their property.”

And he added to Tutu: “I have read the reference from your father. It’s one thing to attend bible classes, but the avarice and greed you displayed is about as far away from the tenets of Christianity as one can get.”