A teenager was exploited and abducted by criminal gangs when he committed a spree of eight violent street robberies in central Bradford, a court heard yesterday.

The youth, who cannot be named because of his age, attacked boys and male students, snatching phones and money and producing a knife on one occasion.

He pleaded guilty to eight robberies committed when he was aged 14 to 16 and was sentenced to a nine-month Youth Rehabilitation Order with a five-month overnight curfew.

His barrister, Christopher Styles, said the teenager was exploited by criminal gangs and pressured into carrying out the robberies. At one point, he was abducted and forced to sell drugs in Swansea.

Prosecutor Syam Soni said the youth carried out the first two robberies when he was 14.

He and others grabbed £300 phones off two boys aged 14 in Bradford. They threatened to stab them, grabbed their arms and pulled the phones off them.

During another offence, he produced a butterfly knife to rob a young man in an alleyway at the side of Bradford Cathedral.

Mr Soni said the youth also robbed his victims on the University of Bradford campus and in the arches near Forster Square Railway Station. Young men were threatened, pushed and kicked by him and his accomplices.

The court heard that two of the co-accused were dealt with at the Youth Court with 12-month referral orders.

The teenager had a previous conviction for a robbery that post-dated the offences. It was committed in August, 2019, and he received a referral order that he complied with in full.

Mr Styles said the youth had been out of trouble for the past 18 months and was now living in stable accommodation with his mother.

Recorder Jonathan Sandiford QC said the teenager was now leading a quiet and law-abiding life.

The Youth Offending Team recommended an intensive package of work in the community.

“This is very much a changed young man who appears before the court today,’ the recorder said.

He warned the youth that further re-offending would lead to him being locked up.