Drug-crazed Leeds criminal tried to car-jack bingo woman and robbed 12-year-old boy of his bike
A drug-crazed criminal tried to drag a terrified woman from her car and threatened to stab a 12-year-old boy while demanding his bicycle.
Daniel Martin embarked on a thieving spree in September of last year in which he also burgled several homes and tried to break into others.
He was handed a new lengthy jail sentence after admitting 12 offences at Leeds Crown Court this week, including robbery, two attempted robberies, three dwelling burglaries, two attempted burglaries, a non-dwelling burglary, theft of a car, attempted theft of a car and criminal damage.
The 28-year-old first broke into homes in Pudsey in the early hour of September 4, targeting properties on Tong Lane.
He damaged the patio doors of one home and stole a laptop watch and other items worth a total of £4,000 from another as a family with three children slept upstairs. He also tried to take a car from the driveway but fled when police arrived.
Two hours later he targeted homes on Bankhouse around three miles away. He was captured on CCTV trying door and windows. He managed to get into one garage but the alarm was triggered and he fled.
He was also disturbed at another property when the occupant’s dogs began to bark.
Martin was then able to break into the home where a woman was alone and took a Playstation and a Hyundai vehicle parked outside after snatching the keys.
On September 23 he stopped the boy on Facette Way in Wortley and demanded he hand over his £500 Carrera bike, telling him he would stab him. The boy refused but Martin then got in his face, grabbed the bike and rode off.
Just 30 minutes later he bizarrely began attacking a mobility car outside a home in Armley and was shouting “paedophiles” and “nonces” towards the property.
At around 5.30pm, a woman was in her Ford C-Max at Buzz Bingo near Armley when Martin approached and ordered her to get out. He tried to pull the woman out of the car by her shoulders but she fought back.
Martin gave up and rode off on the bike, thought to be the one he had robbed earlier.
Just 15 minutes later on Stonebridge Avenue he approached another woman in a Renault Zoe. He told her: “I’m sorry I have to do this. I’m going to have to take your car.”
He put his hand through the open window and opened the door, telling the woman he would stab her if she did not comply.
Again, the woman resisted and Martin gave up before fleeing.
Martin, of Lytham Grove Farnley, has 20 previous convictions for 31 offences, including 11 for theft and six for violence.
He appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds, having been recalled from a previous sentence. He is not eligible for parole until 2028.
Mitigating, Emily Hassell said he was only released from a previous sentence last year and was at a “low ebb”, having nowhere to live.
She said he turned to drink and drugs. She said he was “disgusted” with himself.
Judge Howard Crowson jailed Martin for eight years and told him he must serve two-thirds of the sentence before being considered for parole.