The criminals responsible have appeared in court
Callum Rawson(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
A group of students were left traumatised after being threatened with knives during a violent burglary.
Callum Rawson, 26, was part of a masked three-person gang that burst into the property on Burley Road in July 2022. Leeds Crown Court heard on Wednesday, April 15 that Rawson was not one of the two men carrying a weapon.
Prosecutor Nathan Davies told the court: “The residents went on a night out and returned in the early hours of the morning. While they were still awake three men entered address. One of them was Callum Rawson and each of them were dressed in black and wearing balaclavas and ski masks.
“Two men were in possession of knives or machetes. One of the blades were said to be a foot long. The knives were held in a threatening manner and one was held to the face of a student. They said to take what they wanted and one of the men said: ‘Don’t worry, we don’t want to hurt you.’
“Two of the men went further into the property but stopped when they saw two people on the stairs and left. In fear of getting stabbed, the students gave their items.”
IPhones and and a laptop were among items stolen during the crime. On July 18, 2022, Rawson was spotted on footage trying to sell the stolen items with accomplice, Reece Lacey-Ashworth, 27, of Tong Drive, Farnley.
A student targeted in the burglary told the court in a victim impact statement: “The night of the robbery had started as a happy one. It was the day after I met my partner and we were celebrating the fact we had moved into the new property. It was my last year of uni.
“What had been our safe place quickly became terrifying. The house in which we had began to build our lives in no longer felt like home. The days blurred together as we struggled as we do simple things like eating and sleeping. The place that was meant to be our home became violent.
“My laptop containing uni work was taken…I didn’t feel safe in my own home. There was a part of me that feels sadness that others would choose to harm in this way. They brought weapons into our home and brought trauma into the lives of people that lived there.”
A general view of Leeds Crown Court(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
They were eventually arrested and Rawson went on to admit aggravated burglary and Lacey-Ashworth handling stolen goods. Lacey-Ashworth also fell to be sentenced for an offence of assault by beating and criminal damage following an incident in September last year where he damaged his ex-partner’s bathroom door and struck her to the neck.
Mitigating for Lacey-Ashworth, Jessica Strange said: “There is a reference from his aunt. She’s been here at every hearing. In the pre-sentence report, he doesn’t always express himself well. He always accepted he knew the goods were stolen but doesn’t accept that he knew the circumstances in which they were stolen.”
The court heard Lacey-Ashworth has been on remand for 196 days.
Her Honour Judge Belcher jailed Rawson for 86 months. He will have to serve two-thirds of that sentence in custody. Lacey-Ashworth was made the subject of a community order, during which he will have to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, an accredited programme and 50 rehabilitation activity requirement.
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