A TEENAGE thug who committed his first robbery at the age of 12 will miss the birth of his first child after being locked up for attacking and robbing a vulnerable man in the street.
Luke Smith, 18, kicked and stamped on Jacob Day 30 times when he and another man attacked him in Tattershall Close, west Hull, just after 7am on July 19.
Although Mr Day, 18, suffered no lasting injuries, he was left with Smith's footprint on his neck and was described by a judge as vulnerable because he was in drink at the time.
Smith and his accomplice, who has not been identified, then searched his pockets before stealing his mobile phone, passport and wallet – containing £90 – and his house keys.
Smith, of Bankside Park, west Hull, was arrested after being identified from CCTV footage of the area.
He admitted that robbery but denied two others against the same person early in 2012 and on January 14 this year.
He was convicted by a jury of those offences after a trial at Hull Crown Court.
In the first incident, he had stolen a mobile phone in the street from a boy aged 11 after bending his fingers back. The robbery was not reported to police at the time because Smith told his victim he "wouldn't do that again".
But two years later he stole a Blackberry mobile phone from the same victim after holding his hands around his throat.
Wendy Foster, defending, said the most powerful mitigation for Smith's latest robbery was his early guilty plea, and although he had committed his first robbery aged 12 he had not been continually offending since.
She said: "Fortunately, there wasn't any long-lasting or serious physical injury for the complainant.
"There is no evidence this was pre-planned or targeted.
"I concede that this defendant, for his age, has an unenviable record."
Smith appeared in the dock at the same court for his sentencing in a pale blue Nike vest, and was handcuffed to a custody officer after being "non-compliant" in the cells, threatening staff, and amid fears he may try to flee.
But after being sentenced to four years and ten months in a young offenders' institution by Recorder Peter Babb, Smith was defiant when told he must pay a £120 victim surcharge on his release.
"You may as well stick that on my sentence," he said. "I've already got four years. I'm not bothered about that, to be honest."
• Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
• Crime news for Hull and East Yorkshire
