Man jailed following spate of robberies in Manchester where scissors were used to threaten and attack his victims.
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Lloyd George Stevenson, 28/04/1961, of no fixed abode appeared at court on Friday (9 December 2022), 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 sentenced to 6 years, 4 months in prison.
The offences occurred from 19th February – 14th March 2022, with five of the offences taking place on one day.
Stevenson’s spate of crime started on the 19th February, when he entered a store on High Street in Hulme, Stevenson proceeded to walk into an empty staff room where he searched through an employees handbag, stealing £300 in cash before fleeing.
A few weeks passed before Stevenson offended again on the 13th March, entering a shop on Portland Street, Manchester, just after midnight. Stevenson walked up to the counter, briefly engaging two female members of staff in conversation before pulling out a pair of scissors and taking the employee’s handbags, emptying them out on a table. On realising that there was no cash or valuables in the bag, he proceeded to steal £60 from a cash tin before leaving the shop, telling the victims ‘make sure you have security here for the rest of the night’.
At around 4am, in the Piccadilly area of the City Centre, Stevenson approached two women who were waiting for a taxi, before attempting to steal one of the woman’s handbags. Two members of the public stepped in, detaining Stevenson. The victim was left with scratches to her face and Stevenson managed to flee the scene.
Following this incident, Stevenson entered a hotel on Dale Street, where he again threatened a woman with scissors, holding them to her stomach while shouting at her to give him cash. On inspecting the victims handbag and noticing that there was no cash, he left the hotel.
Finishing his crime spree for the day, at around 6am, Stevenson entered another hotel on Dickinson Street, where a female employee was working on reception.
Stevenson 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. Stevenson proceeded to slash at the victims hand twice with the scissors causing cuts. He again demanded for the victim to find cash before leaving the hotel with a mobile phone.
The final offence occurred the next day when he noticed that the driver of a HGV had left the cabin to make a delivery. Stevenson entered the vehicle, searching for valuables before stealing a mobile phone and leaving.
Following these reports, detectives from GMPs Operation Valiant, gathered evidence from various CCTV cameras surrounding the locations of the reports and on some of the footage, Stevenson could clearly be seen committing the offences.
He was arrested on the 14th March and gave a ‘no comment’ interview in custody. He was later charged with the offences and pleaded guilty.
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”.