A SECOND teenager has admitted being involved in the robbery of a 17-year-old man, who suffered a broken arm in the ordeal.
Nineteen-year-old Jon Barnes, who previously denied the offence, changed his plea to guilty when the case was scheduled for trial at Durham Crown Court.
A 16-year-old co-accused has already admitted his part in the incident, and both will now be sentenced together at a future hearing.
It follows the incident in Peterlee, County Durham, shortly after midnight on April 11 this year.
The trio were all initially customers in a takeaway restaurant in the town centre.
Following an exchange of words in the premises, a chase took place once the 17-year-old left the restaurant.
It covered almost a mile-and-a-half but ended with the victim being struck on the arm with a fence post thrust by one of the defendants, while the other relieved him of a smart phone, plus a package containing £600.
Rod Hunt, for Barnes, told the court he now accepts the “full facts” of the incident.
But he asked for preparation of a psychiatric report on the defendant, to accompany a probation background report, before sentence is passed.
Judge Peter Benson agreed to allow the reports to be drawn up, ahead of the sentencing hearing.
He told Barnes: “All sentencing options remain open to the judge who sentences you.”
Barnes, of the Changing Lives hostel, in Plawsworth, near Chester-le-Street, was bailed to return to court with his 16-year-old co-accused for sentence, on a date to be arranged.
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