‘Idiotic’ balaclava-clad robber forced his way into Featherstone home demanding cash and cigarettes

Andrew Culshaw shocked the occupant who had stepped out of his backdoor for a cigarette in the early hours of February 8. Culshaw was stood “about one foot” away from the terrified man with the mask partially covering his face, Leeds Crown Court was told this week.

He asked the man for a cigarette who refused. When the man tried go back inside his Wellgarth Road home in Featherstone and shut the door behind him, Culshaw overpowered him and pushed it open, confronting the terrified man again and telling him: “Give me £100 or I’ll kick your f****** head in.”

He also demanded the man’s cigarettes. The victim, who is a full-time carer for his mother, tried to reason with Culshaw telling him he could not afford to give him the money, but Culshaw ignored him. He took the money and cigarettes and left.

The alarm was raised and police found him walking along Wakefield Road in Featherstone a short time later, still wearing the balaclava and in possession of the £100 and cigarettes.

Following his arrest and interview, he claimed he was somewhere else at the time of the robbery, and that the £100 were from his wages. He later admitted the robbery.

Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said 39-year-old Culshaw, of Cutsyke Avenue in Castleford, has 18 convictions for 32 offences. Most notably, he has a previous conviction for robbery in 2018 in which he targeted the Premier Inn in Castleford. Holding a knife to the throat of a staff member, he forced the opening of the safe and got away with £930. For his part he received a four-year jail sentence.

Referencing his latest robbery, his barrister Ismael Uddin said: “As robberies go, we have a man who is effectively an alcoholic who stumbles across an innocent victim and decides he is going to commit a robbery.

"It’s a sharp contrast to where sophisticated planning has taken place and serious violence is offered and there’s a great deal of premeditation. It’s idiotic and stupid behaviour.”

Recorder Mark McKone KC jailed him for three years.