Fir Vale: Sheffield teens robbed elderly man in 'mean' and 'distressing' Boxing Day attack

Sohail Ramzan and Muhammad Ahmad attacked the complainant from behind as he was making his way home from a supermarket in Fir Vale at around 7pm on December 26, 2020, Sheffield Crown Court heard on April 8.

Passing sentence, Recorder Richard Wright QC told the pair: “No doubt having planned the attack, you did [attack him], knocking him to the floor, keeping him to the ground and rifling through his pockets, stealing his cards and making off.”

He added: “This was a mean and unpleasant offence. It would have been extremely distressing for him.”

Prosecuting barrister Amy Earnshaw said the complainant did not see the faces of his attackers because it was dark, but heard their voices and noted that they ‘sounded young’.

She described how a member of the public came to the complainant’s aid and helped him some of his way home.

Following the atack, the complainant called the police and reported his bank card as stolen, by which time it had already been used fraudulently at Owler Lane petrol station, the court heard.

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Ms Earnshaw told the court that police officers subsequently attended the petrol station to check the CCTV, which showed ‘two males using the bank card’, and they began conducting an ‘area search’.

"Having passed Pepe’s takeaway, they saw two males meeting the description of the males on the CCTV,” said Ms Earnshaw, adding that the two males were arrested and were identified as Ramzan and Ahmad, both of whom were 17 at the time.

In a statement taken shortly after the robbery, the complainant said the incident had ‘shocked’ him and had left him feeling ‘nervous’ about going out in case he were to be ‘attacked again’.

Ramzan, 19, of Horndean Road, Fir Vale, and Ahmad, also 19, of Downham Road, Firth Park, both pleaded guilty to offences of robbery and false representation at an earlier hearing.

Summarising the defendants’ mitigation and the conclusions of their pre-sentence report, Recorder Wright said it was ‘absolutely plain’ that the pair had ‘grown up’, noting that they have both found employment since the incident.

Recorder Wright said he felt able to suspend their sentences of 18 months’ custody for 18 months, due to their age at the time of the offence and the delay in the matter reaching court.

"If this had been a recent offence, or if you hadn’t committed it when you were younger you would be going to custody for a number of years,” Recorder Wright told the pair.

He also ordered them to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.