Robber with cleaver stole TV delivery van
Cleveland PoliceA robber armed with a meat cleaver who stole a delivery van containing TVs has been jailed for four years.
Keaton Harbron, 26, and two associates targeted the Currys van while it was dropping off a TV and washing machine in Stockton on 17 January, Teesside Crown Court heard.
One of the two delivery workers said they feared they would be killed in the attack, which ended with the robbers driving off in the van laden with electrical goods.
Harbron admitted robbery and possessing a bladed weapon. His accomplice Macy Waite, 25, was jailed for three years after admitting robbery.
The van was delivering a new TV and washing machine to a house on Piper Knowle Road in Hardwick at about 08:15 GMT when Harbron, Waite and an unidentified man approached, prosecutor Martin Towers said.
One of the workers was raising their customer's old washing machine up on the back of the van's tailgate when he felt the vehicle rocking, the court heard.
The worker shouted at his colleague for help, with the man running to the cab and finding Harbron and the other man trying to start the vehicle.
Cleveland PoliceHarbron pulled a meat cleaver out and swung it at the worker several times, narrowly missing him, Mr Towers said.
The two delivery workers retreated and Waite walked towards them with her hands in her pockets making them fear she was also armed, the court heard.
One of the workers said he "felt his life might be in danger", Towers said.
The three robbers then drove off at speed in the van, hitting several parked cars and leaving the washing machine lying in the road after it fell from the tailgate, the court heard.
The trio stopped a few streets away and started unloading TVs from the back, but fled empty-handed when police arrived, the court heard.
Harbron and Waite were both arrested later in the day with Harbron in possession of one of the delivery workers' car keys, the court heard.
The court heard Harbron, of no fixed abode, had 64 offences on his record including two robberies, one of which was done at knifepoint when he was 16.
Waite, also of no fixed abode, had 14 offences on her record mainly for shoplifting and 12 days before the delivery van robbery had been given a community order for assaulting emergency workers.