A 12-year-old boy stole a bike from a delivery worker at knifepoint outside a Burger King restaurant.
The worker said the boy showed a knife hidden in his waistband before making him hand over the bike they were riding during the incident earlier this year.
The boy later said the cyclist was targeted after older boys told him to steal the bike “as part of some kind of initiation ceremony”.
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He was handed a referral order at Liverpool Magistrates' Court today after a district judge said he was "acting under the influence of those older than him".
Andrew Page, prosecuting, said police on patrol in Piccadilly Gardens were approached by delivery workers who told them a bike had just been stolen by a boy outside the Burger King nearby.
Liverpool Magistrates' Court heard that police questioned the boy and ,while he admitted having the knife in his waistband, he said the bike had since been taken away by other people he was with at the time. He denied waving the blade towards the delivery drivers but later admitted threatening a person with a knife and said he was in fact the one that stole the bike.
The court heard the boy, who is from Merseyside originally, has been in care for a significant period of time and was living in a care placement in a different part of Greater Manchester when the incident in the city centre happened.
When questioned further, he said he had been told to steal the bike by older children. Mr Page said: “He said he was forced to take the knife and said they told him to take the bike as some sort of initiation ceremony.”
Nicholas Archer, defending, said the boy’s description of what led up to the incident, as well as the significant period he had spent in care, meant he was “clearly a very vulnerable young person”.
He added that the boy’s social workers were trying to find specialist care placements for him to help address his complex issues but were being hampered by a severe lack of supply. Mr Archer said that when one appropriate care placement became available there were 60 bids for it from across the country and the boy was not successful. Another placement in Merseyside has since been found for him.
Sentencing, District Judge James Clarke said he accepted the boy was acting “under the influence of those older than him” but said the consequences could have been catastrophic. He said: “Knives are dangerous beyond belief. If you have paid any attention to the news in this city or elsewhere during the past year you will see the devastation they can cause to families.”
Handing the 12 year old a youth referral order that will involve a variety of rehabilitation activities, District Judge Clarke said the order would aim to give the boy links with people who would not draw him back towards crime. He said: “Those sort of people are not looking after your best interests.”
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