Jail for man who robbed boys
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A man who robbed three schoolboys has been jailed for
18 months after a British Transport Police investigation.
Matthew Batt, 21, targeted a
13-year-old schoolboy on a train between Sittingbourne and
Sheerness on February 23, 2007, stealing his mobile phone.
Batt, who now lives in Annesley,
Nottinghamshire, took the boy’s phone after stopping him from
leaving the train and threatening violence unless he complied.
After leaving the train at Sheerness,
he was later arrested for an unconnected offence.
When he was questioned about why he
had the victim’s mobile phone, he claimed it was his, but the
victim was able to disprove this.
He also targeted two 15-year-olds who
were part of a group of pupils returning from a day trip to London
on March 9, 2007.
Batt, who was with another man,
approached the victims and demanded they hand over money.
They handed over a number of pound
coins before other pupils saw what was happening and
intervened.
Batt and the other man left the train
when it arrived a Rochester but were discovered hiding in a car
park by police, who had been called by one of the pupils
on-board.
Batt was arrested and no further
action was taken against the other man.
Detective Sergeant Allan Thomson,
investigating officer, said: "Batt targeted his victims because
they were young, vulnerable and afraid of being attacked if they
didn’t comply.
"This type of despicable behaviour is
nothing short of bullying and will always be met by zero tolerance
from police.
"We welcome the prison sentence and
hope it sends out a clear message about the consequences for those
who think it’s acceptable to target innocent people."
Batt was sentenced at Nottingham Crown
Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to four counts of
robbery.
Wednesday, March 17 2010
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