'Dead in the eyes': Would-be robber made stab threats to man and teen in Carlisle

A crook who threatened to knife a man and a teenager while trying to rob them during chilling separate incidents in Carlisle city centre has been handed a lengthy prison sentence.

Barrie Lee, now 36, had been released from custody on licence just 12 days before he returned to crime on 29 March last year.

In 2019, he had been handed a four-year jail term for a robbery and an attempted robbery committed in Workington.

During the first of the two incidents in Bank Street at around 6pm last March, Lee first approached a man who initially heard footsteps behind him.

He tried to walk away, turned around and came face to face with Lee, who said: "Give me some money or I will stab you."

Lee crossed the street and approached a group of youths. This prompted the first victim to call police and provide a commentary both of what had just happened to him and what was then unfolding.

Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told Carlisle Crown Court on Thursday: "He was particularly concerned for the welfare of the youths - or children, as he described them - that he could see."

Lee initially spoke with some of the youths as another, a male aged 17, used the Halifax ATM to withdraw cash.

Lee’s tone lurched from "angry to upset". He turned to the 17-year-old, who noted he looked "dead in the eyes" before saying: "I want a tenner or I will stab you."

Mr Rogerson said he felt "scared and worried".

In a detailed impact statement, the teen had spoken of suffering nightmares, struggling to sleep, of feeling paranoid when outside and of doubting whether he would ever return to his "old self".

When interviewed by police, Lee, previously of Workington, spoke of being "drunk by dinnertime that day", and having no recollection of the crimes.

Previously described as having battled serious mental health problems, he later admitted two counts of attempted robbery.

He was jailed for 40 months today by the judge Recorder Peter Atherton.