A Liverpool dad who launched a Christmas Eve robbery was caught after his victim located him on Facebook.
David Clements targeted SRS Convenience on Rice Lane shortly after 10pm on December 24 2020. The 42-year-old, who was a regular customer at the shop, entered with a mask on and covered by a hoodie and grabbed worker Sekalathan Arulampalam by the neck before stealing cash from the till.
Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, said Mr Arulampalam recognised Clements during the robbery from the small part of his face that was visible. As he had met Clements before, he thought it was a joke.
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Yet Clements continued to hold Mr Arulampalam by the neck and then stole between £200 and £250 from the shop. Mr Arulampalam chased Clements out on to Rice Lane, at which point Clements turned and punched him in the face.
Mr Blasbery said that after strongly suspecting Clements, who he knew only as David, to be the perpetrator he searched for him on Facebook and presented his allegation to the police. He said: “He found the full details of David Clements, including his date of birth. As a result, he contacted the police and it took a few days for the police to arrest Mr Clements.”
Clements appeared over video link from HMP Liverpool having already received a lengthy prison sentence for a robbery committed around the same time as the one on SRS Convenience. Michael Bagley, defending, said that since his entry into prison Clements had received more advanced diagnoses for mental health issues he was living with at the time and was receiving treatment for this.
He said Clements had responded well to custody and now held trusted prisoner status and was completing qualifications. Mr Bagley said: “He is someone who tells me that he is actually benefiting from the treatment he is receiving in custody.”
He added that Clements’ former employers had indicated they would be prepared to take him back after he completes his prison term. Normally, Clements would have been sentenced for the robbery on SRS Convenience at the same time as the other robbery for which he is currently serving a prison sentence.
The judge, Recorder Richard Leiper QC, said only a custodial sentence was appropriate for Clements but added he was clearly engaging well with rehabilitation efforts in jail and that the treatment he was receiving for his mental health was helping him significantly. However, he adjusted the sentence for the SRS Convenience robbery downwards from eight months to six months to bring his total sentence into line with the likely total sentence if he were sentenced for both robberies at the same time.
