Beggar locked up for robbing Wolverhampton student
A renowned beggar who forced a frightened student to withdraw £100 from a cash point after threatening to knock him out has been locked up for two years.
Ben Taylor was cornered by 36-year-old Kevin Baddeley and another man in North Road while walking home to his digs from a night out in Wolverhampton city centre at 2.30am on April 21, a judge was told.
The pair demanded cash and started to 'pat down' the victim before they discovered a mobile phone in a pocket and took it, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
But that was not enough for the robbers, said Mr Philip Beardwell, prosecuting, who explained: "This defendant warned 'I will knock you out if you do not give us money'.
"Mr Taylor feared for his safety because he did not know what they would do next."
The student was frogmarched to the cash point outside the Asda supermarket in nearby Jack Hayward Way and forced to enter his bank card and pin number.
Baddeley of Rose Hill Gardens, Willenhall, and his accomplice, who has not been traced, took £100 before fleeing in different directions after the victim managed to alert a passer-by he was being robbed.
One of the suspects was chased but lost after sprinting through a subway close to the Wolves football ground, the court heard.
Baddeley, who later pleaded guilty to robbery, was recognised after police and store staff watched footage from the CCTV camera trained on the cash point where the money was withdrawn.
Mr Beardwell said: "He was identified because he often begs for money in the area."
Mr Simon Hanns, defending Baddeley, who had 24 previous convictions involving 55 separate offences, said the father of three had stopped committing crime for a number of years but had returned to his old ways after a break down of a relationship.
He said: "He turned to drugs to numb the pain of the split and started begging to get money to fund the habit."
The crime lasted around 10 minutes and Mr Taylor later told police although he had been a student in Wolverhampton for two years he was now reluctant to stay there.
Judge James Burbidge QC, sentencing, said: "Wolverhampton is proud to welcome students from many areas.
"They, like others, are entitled to feel safe and secure walking the streets of the city. Sadly you have created a feeling in this student that he does not want to be here any longer.
"The two of you, acting together in the early hours of the morning and demanding money would alarm anybody."
