Worcester robbers showed unconscious victim to his mum on FaceTime

Daniel Lloyd and Kyron Gee pretended to help drunk student Jake Molan at McDonald's in Worcester city centre but instead lured him to a dark, secluded part of the city's racecourse and set upon him, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury during a 'shocking' robbery.

The robbers FaceTimed the victim's mother on his stolen iPhone 6 so she could see her son lying bleeding on the ground, claiming they had found him like that.

Lloyd and Gee lied to her that they needed the PIN code to unlock the phone so they could call an ambulance. But an ambulance was never called and they left him there, unconscious.

When he sentenced them the judge said the robbers had only wanted the PIN code so they could unlock the phone and sell it on.

After the robbery they used the University of Worcester student's stolen bank cards to carry out a series of frauds, including buying themselves food from McDonald's and a pregnancy test for one of their girlfriends.

Lloyd, aged 21, of Duke of Edinburgh Way, Malvern and Gee, 23, of Glenthorne Avenue, Worcester, gasped in shock over the prison videolink when Judge Nicolas Cartwright jailed them at Worcester Crown Court on Monday as the victim and his mother watched from the public gallery.

David Swinnerton, prosecuting, said the victim had been 'pre-loading' with student friends on vodka and was refused entry to city nightclub Bushwackers.

He was already 'heavily intoxicated' by the time he got to McDonald's in the city centre at 1.23am on May 21 which is where he met Gee and Lloyd standing outside.

They attacked him on Worcester Racecourse although the victim has no recollection of the assault, coming to 'with a foot mark on the right hand side of his face'.

During the robbery his iPhone 6 and a wallet containing two bank cards and between £20 and £30 in cash were stolen.

"It appears his head was stamped on," said Mr Swinnerton.

The victim suffered bruises to his eyes and cuts to his nose.

The victim's mother received a call from the defendants at 2.04am and saw her son

via FaceTime unconscious on the ground.

Mr Swinnerton said: "She was understandably very distressed and provided the PIN code to the phone. They told her an ambulance had been called. That wasn't true. He was simply left."

Mr Molan was taken to A&E at 4.46am. He had a minor traumatic brain injury. X-rays identified no fractures and there was no bleeding on the brain.

In total Gee admitted five frauds using the stolen bank card and Lloyd three frauds.

In a victim statement Mr Molan said he was anxious about going out on his own, missed the end of year ball and an awards ceremony.

In police interview Lloyd initially denied being present at all, suggesting he had been at his girlfriend's.

Gee admitted being there but blamed Lloyd. In a second interview Lloyd accepted he was present but claimed Gee 'hit him first'. Lloyd was also on licence at the time, taken as an aggravating feature.

Evidence suggested the footprint on the victim's face came from Gee's trainer.

Niall Skinner, for Gee, said his client pleaded guilty at an early stage and was 'entirely remorseful for what happened'. He told the court Gee 'hadn't perhaps had the easiest childhood' and was studying an Open University course to obtain a degree in sports science so he could become a personal trainer.

"He's young enough to make a sea change. That's what he fully intends to do," said Mr Skinner.

Judith Kenney, for Lloyd, described the offence as 'opportunist' and said he did not remember FaceTiming the victim's mum.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright described the robbery as 'a truly shocking offence' and the call to the victim's mother as 'cynical'.

The robbery was aggravated by the defendants' previous convictions for violence, targeting the victim because of his perceived vulnerability and the location of the attack.

The judge said: "You pretended that you needed the code from her to unlock his telephone in order to be able to raise assistance from the ambulance service and, not surprisingly, she gave you the code."

He added: "Once the phone was unlocked you left him there unconscious. He came around a significant amount of time later and someone else did assist in the way you should have done."

Judge Cartwright added: "His mother plainly was very much affected, being desperately worried about her son over a period of two-and-a-half hours."

The judge jailed Lloyd for six years and Gee for four-and-a-half.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Edith Anderson from Worcester CID said: "This was a vicious and premeditated attack on a vulnerable student.

"We would like to praise the courage of the victim in coming forward as well as his mother who was callously called by the defendants shortly after the attack on Facetime to inform her that they had found her son.

"We would also like to thank the University of Worcester security team, Worcester McDonald's and Sainsbury's for their support and assistance during the investigation of this case."

Both Lloyd and Gee were jailed in 2017 for grievous bodily harm for an attack they carried out together. Lloyd, who was in breach of a suspended sentence for burglary, was jailed for four years and Gee for two years, for that assault.