A York teenager has been jailed for a shocking crime spree in which he tried to stab a vulnerable man – and sped off in a stolen car with the woman owner still clinging on.
The woman had parked her Citroen outside the Royale Spice takeaway in Burton Stone Lane and went in for a brief chat with a relative, York Crown Court heard.
She was inside the takeaway for no more than 15 seconds when she returned outside to find teenager Finlay Drinkhill driving off in her car.
“She gave chase and it stopped some 20 metres or so down the road,” said prosecutor Rob Galley.
The woman rushed over to the vehicle, opened the driver’s door and tried to grab Drinkhill’s arm and pull him out, but he drove off again.
The brave woman, who still had hold of Drinkhill’s arm, “tried to run with the car” whose driver’s door was still open. She fell as it sped away and landed on her knees and shoulders, causing “nasty” injuries.
She called police who searched the area and were able to track the vehicle by her mobile phone, which was inside the car.
The red Citroen was next spotted in Crabmill Lane, Easingwold, some 12 miles away, by a man who told police he had heard a “loud bang” and saw the vehicle “spinning off with a wheel spin”.
An officer spotted the Citroen in Crabmill Lane as it sped past and collided with a Mercedes. It then struck another two cars, taking the wing mirrors off.
Drinkhill got out of the vehicle and ran off, chased by the officer. He was later found and arrested by another officer who spotted a man “walking across a field with a tandem bike”.
He was arrested and charged with aggravated vehicle-taking, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and dangerous driving and ultimately admitted the offences.
Disturbing incident
Mr Galley said that Drinkhill, 18, had driven at “significant” speeds during the 12-mile journey from York to Easingwold.
The teenager was released on bail or under investigation following his arrest for the shocking events on 13 May last year.
However, on 7 June, he was involved in an equally disturbing incident outside a homeless hostel in Hatfield Walk, Foxwood, where he threatened a resident with a knife.
The victim was in his ground-floor room overlooking the backyard when, at about 4.15am, he heard a “very loud bang, as though a brick had been thrown through a back window”.
Although the glass door hadn’t smashed, he saw Drinkhill standing there in the back yard, yelling.
Drinkhill said he was looking for a man he believed to be living in the hostel, but the victim didn’t recognise anyone by that name. He then opened the door and saw Drinkhill standing there with “something sticking out of his pocket”.
When the victim asked him what it was, Drinkhill pulled out a knife.
As he brandished the “six-or-seven-inch” kitchen knife, Drinkhill told the petrified victim: “I’ll stab you in the face, you little muppet.”
He then lunged at the man, thrusting the knife towards him, but the victim managed to dodge the blade. He then retreated inside and locked the door as Drinkhill continued shouting threats.
Drinkhill picked up a trolley and threw it at the back door before leaving after the victim shouted that police were on their way.
Terrified victim
He was identified from CCTV footage and arrested again. He was charged with threatening the victim with a knife and admitted the offence.
He appeared for sentence for all matters yesterday (Wednesday).
Mr Galley said the victim of the knife incident felt unsafe in his home following the incident and the charity which provided the accommodation had to find him another shelter elsewhere.
Defence barrister Jordan Millican said that Drinkhill, of no fixed address, had supportive parents but had endured a “difficult personal life” and had been sofa-surfing at friend’s houses.
Judge Sean Morris told the teenager: “You will be aware, especially a young man of your age, of the scourge of knife crime in this country and that people are being killed, and that is why the public have had enough of knife crime and young men carrying knives.”
He added: “The victim was terrified: anybody threatened with a knife and having it lunged at them would be terrified. You were hardly any distance from him.”
He said it had to be an immediate jail sentence for such an offence, partly as a warning to others “that they think again before leaving the house with a murderous weapon”.
Drinkhill was sentenced to seven months in a young-offenders’ institution for the knife offence and given a 12-month motoring ban for the driving offences.