A 16-YEAR-OLD car jacker forced a terrified woman to drive across Bradford at knifepoint before writing off her vehicle in a multiple pile-up.

The teenager had recently been released from custody for a cash point robbery when he struck in the dark on January 3, jumping into the front passenger seat of the victim’s Peugeot 107 with a kitchen knife and ordering: “Just drive.”

The frightened woman was forced to take him from where her car was parked, near Manchester Road, to a dark, cobbled street off Great Horton Road, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, then let her out of the car and drove off, prosecutor Camille Morland said.

He had gone less than a mile when he swerved on to the wrong side of the road in Grafton Street, Great Horton, crashing into a moving car and three parked vehicles.

He ran off but after he was arrested on January 10 he claimed to be at Trafalgar House Police Station at the time, and then blamed a friend for committing the offences.

Miss Morland said the boy later confessed to his Youth Offending Team case worker after the knife with his DNA on it was found on the back seat of the damaged Peugeot.

The teenager, who was held in custody at Wetherby Young Offender Institution, admitted robbery, having a knife as an offensive weapon, aggravated vehicle taking and driving without a licence or insurance.

Miss Morland said his victim had been working in Bradford city centre when she returned to her car in Park Road at 4.30pm.

She panicked when the knife was pointed at her, stalling the vehicle, before driving off.

She wondered why she was being directed down a dark back street, pleading with the boy: “Please let me go. Don’t hurt me. I won’t tell anyone.”

After he stole her vehicle, she raised the alarm at the National Media Museum, the court was told.

The boy was using cannabis and cocaine at the time and told his case worker he owed money to a drug dealer.

The woman said in her victim personal statement that she now had trouble sleeping, feared strangers and was struggling to concentrate on her studies.

She had seen her doctor and was receiving counselling.

The teenager had a conviction for battery in 2014, when he threatened his brother with a kitchen knife, and he was locked up in April last year for a cash point robbery, being released from the detention and training order in October.

The court heard he was in a special unit for vulnerable children at the young offender institution.

He had learning difficulties, mental health problems and issues with self harm.

The boy was immature and had been excluded from mainstream education at an early age, his case worker told the court.

Barrister Jon Gregg, representing the teenager, said he was supported by a loving family network, with his mother and grandmother attending the court hearing.

Mr Gregg conceded the victim would be traumatised but said the boy did not use the knife and had admitted the offences.

The judge, Recorder William Lowe QC, said of the victim: “She had the right to get into her car in safety and to drive wherever she wanted to go. Instead, she finds herself afraid of strangers and not wanting to be out at night alone.”

Although what the boy did was “wicked and harmful” the judge was obliged by law to have regard for his welfare. He was in a special unit for vulnerable inmates and had mental health problems.

The teenager was sentenced to a two year detention and training order and banned from driving for two years.