A foul-mouthed Wigan robber has been given an extra six months in jail on top of an eight-year sentence – after calling the judge ‘knobhead’ as he was being sent to the cells.
Stephen Mann, 21, turned the air blue as was leaving the dock after being sentenced for two raids in the Wigan area.
Judge Andrew Hatton, 49, ordered he brought back before him after the insult for a breach of contempt of court, before handing out the additional sentence.
The exchange occurred at Liverpool Crown Court where drifter Mann was found guilty of a knifepoint robbery and burglary after a trial.
The first incident took place on October 4 2013 after he mugged a 72-year-old woman as she walked along the street with her husband in Wigan, Greater Manchester.
He grabbed her handbag as she passed then snatched it from her after dragging her to the ground.
Mann ran off leaving the women with injures to her arm, shoulder and chest.
Mann struck again at about 2.45pm on October 15 2013, when he burst into R&W Gore newsagents in Hindley, Wigan and threatened the owner at knifepoint and demanded cash.
But the shopkeeper refused to hand over any money and told Mann to leave before throwing a wooden bat, which hit Mann on the back.
The 21-year-old was later caught after being spotted riding a bike at a high speed and being tracked down to a nearby park.
Following his arrest he was seen rubbing his back and was found to have an injury consistent with his dust-up with the shopkeeper.
Initially he was given two concurrent sentences of seven years for two counts of robbery and a further 12 months to run consecutively for burglary.
But due to his defiant reaction in the dock he was brought back before Judge Hatton and re-sentenced for his crimes.
Det Sgt Nigel Rigby, of Greater Manchester Police said: “Mann plagued the area, committing robberies and a burglary and would undoubtedly have continued had he not been caught.
“He is a prolific offender and his reaction in the dock reflects the kind of person he is and his contempt for the law.
“He has been handed a significant prison sentence and I am pleased he will not pose a threat to our community for the foreseeable future.”
Judge Hatton was educated at the independent Bolton School where fees are currently £10,800 a year and where the Latin motto Mutare Vel Timere Sperno means, ‘I scorn to change or to fear’.
He graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University and qualified as a barrister in 1987.
He was appointed deputy district judge in 2005, and a recorder in 2009 before becoming a senior circuit judge in 2012.
In 2011 he served on a panel of international judges at the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo which advises on the handling of cases involving war crimes, terrorism and the illegal trade of human organs.
Story via Cavendish Press
Image courtesy of Mikey, with thanks
