Harrogate criminal jailed for 18 months for attempted robbery and breaching suspended sentence

Keith Whitehead, 46, and another named man chased the terrified victim down Seamer Road and Falsgrave Road in Scarborough.

The victim was tripped or fell near the Shell garage where his tormentors demanded his money, mobile phone and cigarettes, York Crown Court heard.

Whitehead ultimately admitted attempted robbery but was spared jail in March when he received a 21-month suspended prison sentence despite his massive criminal record.

However, he wasn’t so lucky today when the same judge jailed him for 18 months for breaching the suspended sentence by failing to keep in touch with the Probation Service and attend an office appointment.

Prosecutor Kelly Clark said that Whitehead had also failed to inform probation officers of his whereabouts which was one of the conditions of his suspended sentence.

The attempted robbery occurred in 2021 when a woman saw two men chasing a man down Seamer Road and Falsgrave Road and at about 1am.

The victim was either tripped or fell over whereupon Whitehead and his cohort “stood over him and continued to make demands for his mobile (phone) and money so they could buy cigarettes and alcohol”.

Whitehead’s partner-in-crime began rifling through the victim’s pockets looking for cash and cigarettes.

The named female witness heard shouts of, “Give me your money, give me your wallet”.

When she and another woman tried to intervene, Whitehead’s pal aimed a volley of abuse at her and looked like he was about to hit her, said Ms Clark.

The women called police and two officers followed Whitehead and his sidekick, who tried to walk away.

The officers found the victim, who had been out with friends, on Seamer Road.

He told them that two men had threatened him and chased him down the street after he refused their demand for cigarettes.

“He said he was scared and started to run down Seamer Road, heading to the Shell garage, (and) was chased by two males a short distance from the garage,” said Ms Clark.

Both men were arrested and initially tried to blame each other, but Whitehead ultimately admitted the offence, was handed a 21-month jail sentence suspended for two years in March, and subsequently admitted breaching that order.

Ms Clark said that Whitehead’s criminal record comprised 40 previous convictions for 90 offences including “lots” of acquisitive crime, as well as assault occasioning actual bodily harm and harassment.

Whitehead’s solicitor advocate Kevin Blount said his client was homeless and had been living rough in Harrogate.

He added that Whitehead - who had an alcohol problem and had been drinking on the night in question - was “not feeling safe” in Harrogate because a man who had assaulted him had just been released from prison.

He said Whitehead had subsequently moved from Harrogate to Leeds without letting the Probation Service know.

Judge Simon Hickey told Whitehead he had “blown” the chance he had given him in March to avoid jail.

He told the defendant: “I accept you have a difficult life and (that) you may be involved in the drug world, and you wanted to move away from drugs (in Harrogate), but you’ve blown it.

“There’s a pattern here of non-compliance (with the court order) and you’ve not engaged (with the Probation Service), so you’ve squandered your chance.”

Whitehead will serve half of the 18-month sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.