A student armed himself with a ‘horrific-looking’ machete to carry out a robbery in a bid to ease his inability to manage his own finances.
Bilal Boulaleh and an accomplice had targeted a student at Coventry University, who they knew had an expensive Rolex watch, but ended up fleeing empty handed.
Boulaleh (20) a student at Wolverhampton University, but originally from West Drayton, Middlesex, was caught after being chased by a security guard, although the other intruder escaped.
And at Warwick Crown Court he was jailed for six years after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary and possessing a bladed article.
Prosecutor Michael Williams said that on March 7 Boulaleh and another man travelled from Wolverhampton to Coventry to rob a Coventry University student of a Rolex watch they knew he owned.
They waited around outside the Godiva Place student accommodation in Lower Ford Street, Coventry, late at night before walking in behind other people who had been buzzed into the block.
Then, armed with a machete and a knife, they forced their way into their 20-year-old victim’s room and demanded his Rolex.
The terrified young man managed to keep the watch hidden, despite Boulaleh brandishing the knife and making stabbing motions towards him to reinforce their demands.
During the incident, as their demands became more violent, the victim suffered ‘defensive injuries’ to his hands and arms and a wound to the back of his head.
Eventually Boulaleh and the other man fled empty-handed, and the injured young man made his way to a fellow-student’s room and the alarm was raised.
A security officer at the block saw the intruders leaving and gave chase, catching Boulaleh and detaining him until the police arrived to arrest him, added Mr Williams.
Jailing Boulaleh, Judge Peter Cooke told him: “It is an absolute tragedy that a young man of your intelligence is in the dock facing sentence for such an offence.
“But the facts of this case are shocking. You were made aware of a plan to commit a crime and took part so that you, who were not managing your finances very well, could come by some easy money.
“The plan was to travel to Coventry, some distance away from Wolverhampton, so you could participate in burgling a fellow-student.
“You didn’t know him, but what you knew was that there was a student with a Rolex who lived in a particular student block.
“You and your companion forced entry. He had a six-inch blade knife, and you had a horrific-looking machete.
“At some point [the victim] picked up defensive injuries to his hands and arms, and he also had a laceration to the back of his head.
”You pleaded guilty to this today, you are only 20 years of age and previously of good character, and you are a young man of intelligence and promise. But this offence sits in category one under the guidelines.”
