A man who held Gumtree buyers at knifepoint to steal cash and phones has been jailed for more than seven years.
Aaran Hudson, 25, pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to two counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery, one count of theft and three counts of being in possession of a bladed article.
Hudson, formerly of Morrell Avenue, Oxford, told elaborate stories of family deaths and grandfathers with rare comic collections to lure trusting Gumtree users into meeting him in dark streets in Nottingham.
In three separate robberies he got into victims’ vehicles and threatened them with a knife before stealing thousands of pounds and mobile phones.
Hudson responded to a man on the Gumtree website who was asking for tickets to the Download Festival. They arranged to meet in Manvers Street, Netherfield, on 29 May 2015.
But when they met, Hudson got into the man’s car and pulled out a knife. He stole £650 and the victim’s mobile phone.
Two days later, Hudson met with a man who wanted rare comic books. Hudson had spun a lie that he was selling comics that belonged to his grandfather and even gave the seller serial numbers which seemed to be genuine.
They met in Arthur Street, Netherfield, where Hudson got into the back of the buyers’ car and held a knife to the driver’s throat. He stole cash.
In the third attempted robbery, Hudson had said his uncle had died and left some valuable Star Wars memorabilia which he wanted to sell.
He met the buyer in Midland Road, Carlton, on 3 June 2015 where he pulled out a knife and held it to his face. This time, the victim grabbed the knife which broke. Hudson fled the scene with nothing.
Temporary Detective Inspector Richard Monk said: “The hard work of all the officers and staff involved in this investigation has resulted in a very dangerous person receiving a substantial custodial sentence for their actions.”
“Hudson thought that he had found an easy way to make money – by taking advantage of well-meaning people then using the threat of violence to get what he wanted.”
“It shouldn’t be dangerous to buy and sell online but unfortunately there is a minority of people out there who want to take advantage of those people using the sites set up for that purpose.”
Hudson was sentenced to seven years and four months for each of the robberies and attempted robbery, to run concurrently.
