A robber who threatened several of his victims with a pair of scissors has been jailed. Lloyd George Stevenson, 61, has been locked up after slashing a member of hotel staff and issuing shop workers with a chilling threat during his 'appalling' offending spree in and around the city centre.
Police have also praised two good samaritans who stepped in and tried to detain him as he tried to rob a woman waiting for a cab.
Stevenson’s personal crime wave began on February 19 this year when he burst into a shop on High Street in Hulme. He walked into an empty staff room and rifled through an employee's handbag, stealing £300 in cash before fleeing., Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.
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Several weeks later, on March 13, he entered a shop on Portland Street in the city centre just after midnight. He walked up to the counter, briefly speaking to two female members of staff before pulling out a pair of scissors and taking the employee’s handbags.
He emptied the contents out onto a table, and realising that there was no cash or valuables in the bag, he proceeded to steal £60 from a cash tin before leaving the shop. As he left he told his victims ‘make sure you have security here for the rest of the night.'
Four hours later, Stevenson approached two women who were waiting for a taxi in the Piccadilly area of the city centre, before attempting to steal one of the woman’s handbags.
Two members of the public were nearby and stepped in, detaining Stevenson, though he eventually managed to flee having left his victim with scratches to her face.
Following this incident, Stevenson entered a hotel on Dale Street, where he again threatened a woman with a pair of scissors, holding them to her stomach while shouting at her to give him cash. After looking inside her handbag and noticing that there was no cash, he left the hotel.
At around 6am, Stevenson entered another hotel on Dickinson Street, where a female employee was working on reception. He pulled out the pair of scissors and threatened the victim demanding cash.
The victim went into a staff room and showed Stevenson that there was no cash in there, GMP said. He then 'proceeded to slash at the victim's hand twice with the scissors causing cuts', according to the force. He again demanded from the victim to find cash before leaving the hotel with a mobile phone.
The final offence occurred the following day when he noticed that the driver of a lorry had left the cabin to make a delivery. Stevenson climbed into the HGV and stole a mobile phone before running off.
After all the incidents were reported, officers from GMPs Operation Valiant team gathered evidence from various CCTV cameras around the locations of the reports and on some of the footage, Stevenson could clearly be seen committing the offences they said.
He was arrested on March 14 and gave a ‘no comment during’ interview. He was later charged with the offences.
Stevenson, of no fixed abode appeared in court and was sentenced on Friday, December 9, after pleading guilty to four counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery, one count of theft from a vehicle and one count of assault. He was jailed for six years and four months and Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.
Following the hearing, Detective Sergeant Helen Fletcher, of GMPs Operation Valiant Team, said: “This was a shocking spate of offences undertaken by Stevenson, leaving his victims understandably shaken by his appalling actions with two being left with injuries.
"Our team worked hard to locate Stevenson and to make sure enough evidence was presented to the CPS to be able to charge him.
“We are pleased with the result and are thankful that Stevenson has been given a jail term. We don’t need people like this on the streets of Greater Manchester, and we hope that he is released from prison a better person.
"I would like to thank the victims for supporting our investigation and to the two members of public who stepped in to help”.
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