Jail For Peterborough Robbers

5 January 2011, 13:58 | Updated: 5 January 2011, 14:25

Two men have been jailed for stealing food, cigarettes and a mobile phone from shoppers in Peterborough.

23 year old Liam Parrish [pictured - left] and 21 year old Jamie Allcorn [pictured - right], both from Bringhurst in Peterborough, robbed two people at the Serpentine Green Shopping Centre in May last year.

The victims were a 17 year old boy and a 20 year old man who had recently returned from serving with the army in Afghanistan.

They had both been to Tesco at the shopping centre and were cycling through Saltmarsh, Orton Malbourne, when they were approached by Parrish and Allcorn.

The robbers grabbed the victim's arms and held them behind their backs before stealing from them.

The victims managed to get away and run to a friend's house, where they called police.

Allcorn was arrested on May 27 but denied being involved.

However, he was picked out on an identity parade and charged.

On December 8 last year, following a two-day trial, he was unanimously found guilty by a jury on two counts of robbery.

Parrish was arrested on June 17 and denied the offences in interview.

However, he was also picked out in an identity parade and pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery at Peterborough Crown Court on August 16.

Today, both men were sentenced to a year in custody on each count, to run concurrently, by Judge Neil McKittrick at Peterborough Crown Court.

DC Kevin Poole, from the priority crime team at Thorpe Wood Police Station, said: "I believe this was an opportunist crime but the sentence demonstrates how seriously robbery is regarded by police and the justice system.

One of the victims had only just come back to the UK after serving in Afghanistan and he should have been able to walk the streets of the city without being mugged.

This sentencing should serve as a warning to any others considering robbery."