A teenager who carried out a daylight robbery in Bradford’s Centenary Square was addicted to cannabis and showing off to his friends, a court heard.

Bradley Justice snatched a student’s Bluetooth Speaker while he listened to music at 9.30am on December 2, 2019.

Justice grabbed the £80 speaker while the 18-year-old male student and his friends were walking to Bradford College, prosecutor Martin Robertshaw told Bradford Crown Court this week.

Justice, who was also 18 at the time but was now 19, demanded: “Give me the speaker or I will kill you,” the court was told.

He and the two males with him were aggressive and waving their arms as they approached the students.

After he had been robbed, the victim told friends what had happened and they went in search of the defendant and his associates. They found them in Ivegate and there was a confrontation in which the speaker was recovered, Mr Robertshaw said.

Justice was chased by the police, apprehended and detained.

He admitted to officers that he stole the speaker but denied robbery, saying the student handed it to him to look at and he ran off with it.

Justice, of Holbeck Street, Anfield, Liverpool, went on to plead guilty in January when the case was adjourned for a probation report.

Mr Robertshaw said there was no victim personal statement from the student.

His barrister, Ian Howard, said Justice was still only 19 and had no previous convictions.

He had been brought up in foster care and left with no support from the age of 16. He was now living with his mother in Liverpool and had demonstrated that he had changed his ways.

He was doing voluntary work at a local kennels and genuinely trying to sort his life out.

Mr Howard said Justice had been addicted to cannabis and had sought professional help to wean himself off the drug.

His cannabis use had led him to commit the offence by showing off to the two males with him.

Justice’s probation officer recommended a non-custodial sentence so that he could be rehabilitated in the community.

“This is a man the courts can take a chance with, Mr Howard said.

He pointed to Justice’s young age, his guilty plea and the passage of time since the offence was committed.

Judge Andrew Hatton sentenced Justice to a two-year community order with supervision.

He must do 150 hours of unpaid work and undertake 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.