Man who robbed boy, 14, in Northampton park writes ‘die’ in blood on wall of police cell

A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison after robbing a 14-year-old boy in a Northampton park.

Allan Dean, of Hazelwood Road, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Friday, February 17 after pleading guilty to two counts of criminal damage, one count of robbery and one count of racially aggravated harassment.

The court heard that - on June 14, 2021 at around 6.15pm - a 14-year-old boy was with some friends at Hunsbury Hill Country Park when they were approached by Dean, shouting an expletive and: “Why are you walking away?”

Sarah McIntyre, prosecuting, said the young boys encountered the defendant again at 7.30pm, who continued to shout at them and move towards them aggressively.

Dean demanded the 14-year-old boy’s money and phone and punched him to his left cheek, knocking him to the ground, the court heard. Dean then grabbed the boy by the back of his neck and pushed him around as if he was trying to shake him and the victim told his friends to run.

The court heard that Dean then told the boy, “Remember, I am from this area, yeah? If anything happens, I will shank you.”

Dean was later identified by police officers on CCTV and he was arrested on June 28, 2021.

At around 3am on August 12, 2021, Dean attended Weston Favell Police Station, claiming that he was having problems with his mental health, the court heard.

Ms McIntyre said Dean knocked on the police station’s window for some time and became frustrated, picking up a wooden plank and throwing it through the window.

Dean was subsequently arrested again and - while he was detained in a cell, he wrote ‘die’ on the wall with his own blood, the court heard. He told officers, “I’ve done this because I am going to kill a Muslim.”

The defendant has 17 previous convictions for 33 offences including criminal damage, robbery, dishonesty offences and possession of a bladed article.

As his previous offences were read aloud by Ms McIntyre, Dean – who appeared in court via video-link – muttered: “That’s a new ******* crime, isn’t it?” His audio was promptly muted.

Paul Webb, in mitigation, said that Dean has been remanded in custody for 18 months so has already served the equivalent of a three year prison sentence.

He added: “He is a relatively young man in need of ongoing intervention with his mental health.”

His Honour Judge Mayo DL, addressing the defendant, said: “I really hope you accept the help offered to you because I know that it is not just badness that causes people to treat others the way you treated your victim, it is sometimes mental health difficulties.

“Clearly what you did was affected by the fact that you have mental health difficulties.”

Dean was sentenced to three years in prison for the robbery and a concurrent one month sentence for the racially aggravated harassment. No separate penalty was imposed for the criminal damage.

As Dean has already, however, served the equivalent of that sentence during his remand, he is expected to be released in the next week.