Appeal judges show no mercy on robber

A prolific criminal who was jailed for the drunken robbery of a 15-year-old boy only hours after he was last in a court dock, has lost an appeal against his prison sentence.

Leslie Alan Matthew Kerfoot (28), of Dugdale Avenue, Blackley, took a mobile phone from the boy in Hollinwood Avenue, in Chadderton, his fourth robbery in the last few years.

Kerfoot admitted robbery and breaching a suspended sentence at Minshull Street Crown Court in February and was jailed for three years and 10 months.

Rejecting an appeal against the sentence, three senior judges in London said he deserved everything he got.“This was a serious offence, a fourth robbery by a man with an appalling record,” said Judge Deborah Taylor.

The Court of Appeal heard Kerfoot had convictions for 40 previous offences to his name, including three robberies, all involving mobile phones.

His lawyers argued that the sentence was too long because the crown court judge had not properly taken account of the mitigation in the case.

No violence had been used, the robbery was unplanned and the property of relatively low value and recovered soon afterwards, the judges were told.

But Judge Taylor, who heard the appeal with Lady Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice William Davies, said the sentence was entirely appropriate.
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