Southampton robber claimed police were doing a ‘Henry Nowak’

A Southampton teenager who robbed a taxi driver at knifepoint claimed police were doing a “Henry Nowak” to him as he was arrested.

Jordan Hambleton told officers to make sure they film his arrest “in case they did a Henry Nowak” and shouted: “I’m dying, I have just been stabbed” towards nearby homes, prosecutor Keeley Harvey told Southampton Crown Court.

The comments came shortly after the 19-year-old, of Rollesbrook Gardens, Southampton, had robbed a taxi driver at knifepoint and just hours after he took part in violent disorder in Portswood following the Henry Nowak case, the court was told.

Hambleton appeared at Southampton Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for robbery, possession of a bladed article, grievous bodily harm and violent disorder.

The court heard Hambleton had been drinking after attending the disorder on June 2 and decided to get more alcohol in the early hours of June 3.

He ordered a taxi knowing he didn’t have enough money for it.

He got into the front passenger seat when it arrived at about 2.20am, and a woman and a ten-year-old child got into the back.

Ms Harvey said Hambleton then pulled out a knife and demanded the keys from driver Jawid Firoz.

When Mr Firoz explained that the vehicle was electric and keyless, Hambleton continued making demands before the driver fled the car.

Hambleton climbed into the driver’s seat but was “unsurprisingly” unable to start it.

He got out and made waving and stabbing motions with his knife towards Mr Firoz, who continued backing away.

When a member of the public stopped to call police and help Mr Firoz, Hambleton entered the taxi, stole a wallet with £120 in cash, a portable card machine and a mobile phone, before leaving.

The witness followed him from a safe distance and later directed police to where the knife was believed to have been discarded.

Hambleton was arrested a short time later.

Despite the stolen property being found on him, he claimed he had simply been walking to a pub.

Ms Harvey said Hambleton was “obnoxious” during his arrest, calling officers “scummers” who had “arrested that Henry Nowak”.

She said he told officers to make sure to record his arrest, in case they did a “Henry Nowak” to him.

The court heard Hambleton later told probation officers he believed it would be better to crash a taxi than his own car.

Just hours earlier on June 2, Hambleton, alongside two others, threw an electric scooter towards a police cordon.

The scooter struck Benjamin Collar, described in court as an “emergency services enthusiast”, causing him a fractured jaw.

In a victim personal statement, Mr Collar said the injury was the most painful thing that had ever happened to him.

Hambleton also threw two bins, a yellow traffic cone and another projectile towards police officers during the disorder.

Thomas Evans, mitigating, told the court that his client was a young man with no previous convictions who pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Mr Evans added that his client had “some sort of loose connection” to Henry Nowak, which had exacerbated his anger, adding: “This is a very immature young man.”

He added that Hambleton’s adoptive father had told him the defendant’s great-grandfather, who had been a police chief, would be “turning in his grave” at what had happened.

“We can only hope that this experience will cause him to grow up,” he said.

Sentencing him, Judge William Mousley said a probation report showed Hambleton had admitted being involved in numerous fights and robberies to fund his drug use.

He said: “You don’t show any motivation to address the problems you have.”

Hambleton was jailed for three years for robbery, with a concurrent one-year sentence for possessing a bladed article.

He was also sentenced to three years for grievous bodily harm and three years for violent disorder, to run concurrently with each other but consecutively to the robbery sentence.

In total, he was jailed for six years.

Daily Echo