A man robbed a Yodel delivery driver at knifepoint and accused him of building a bomb - before claiming "I was joking".
Leon Shimka, of Malta Walk, Toxteth, advanced on his victim, Mohsin Sarhan, with a large kitchen knife held above his head on the afternoon of April 26 2022. Mr Sarhan had entered the communal area of Shimka's flat block to deliver a parcel when Shimka, wearing a pair of brightly-coloured shorts and a T-shirt, came out of his apartment and shouted: "What are you doing here?"
Mr Sarhan said: "As the male exited the property I saw a large, black-handled kitchen knife in his hand with the blade pointed towards me. I was instantly placed in fear for my life."
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At Liverpool Crown Court today, June 20, prosecutor Kenneth Grant said Shimka demanded Mr Sarhan give him the parcel. Mr Sarhan said he attempted to reason with Shimka by telling him he would get into trouble, but handed it over after when the 42-year-old threatened, "give me the parcel now, or I will kill you".
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He said: "The male was extremely agitated and aggressive and I believed he was about to stab me for the parcel, so I handed it to him before I ran down the stairs."
As he fled, he heard Shimka shouting: "A Muslim man has just brought a bomb to try and kill my girlfriend." He then opened his flat window and shouted: "I was joking, I was joking."
Mr Sarhan said: "I could not see the funny side and cannot believe that threatening someone with a knife and stealing a parcel is in any way funny."
Shimka initially pleaded not guilty to robbery, but changed his plea to guilty in May 2023.
Jamie Baxter, defending, said: "He recognises, in the sober light of day, the horrific ordeal he put a man through, who was just trying to do his job. He deeply regrets his actions and is sorry for what he put the complainant through that afternoon.
"At the time the defendant was taking cocaine, cannabis and drinking to excess, and part of that was brought on by an injury he sustained. He was a victim of an assault; he jumped out of a window, sustained an injury and wasn't able to work. There was a decline in his mental health and that led him to take hard drugs and drink."
He added that Shimka had "no recollection" of the crime - and that he did not have a girlfriend.
Sentencing Shimka to three years in prison, Judge Andrew Menary KC said: "I have no doubt (the victim) was shocked by the incident. I have no doubt he suffered some real anxiety and fear about what happened and that inevitably would have had an effect on his ability to do his job.
"Also, he suffered the indignity of having his religion being insulted by you. This was a very serious incident indeed."
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