Teenager targeted to be robbed because he was wearing Moncler coat and carrying Louis Vuitton bag in Central Milton Keynes

A young man became a target for a ruthless robbery in the city centre because he was wearing designer clothes, a court heard.

The teenage victim was spotted drinking a lunchtime coffee in Costa by teenager Ashley Mukabeta and two other males.

They saw he was wearing a Moncler coat, worth around £700 and carrying Louis Vuitton bag worth around £1,500, as well as a designer wallet.

Prosecutors at Aylesbury Crown Court said the trio followed him home through an underpass in CMK where suddenly one of them rammed into the back of him with an an e-scooter.

Mukabeta, now 19, then twisted his arm behind his back and shouted “take it off” - referring to the coat.

The court was told that the victim begged them “no” before Mukabeta gestured towards his pocket and put his hand inside - alluding to a weapon.

A judge heard that the gang managed to get away with the coat, the bag and the wallet.

Police were called and the trio were arrested - eventually being released on bail while the investigation continued.

The court was told that while on police bail, Mukabeta was spotted at the home of a vulnerable person.

Police were checking in on the person over fears that their home had been "cuckooed" - meaning used as a base for illegal drug dealing.

The court heard that Mukabeta tried to make a dash for freedom away from the officers, throwing away his phone and a stash of drugs in a wood as he fled.

At a sentencing hearing, prosecutor Richard Sedgwick told the judge: “Texts were found on his phone also saying ‘two brown and one white’ referring to heroin and cocaine, together with two photographs of him holding a large amount of cash and a knife.”

The prosecutor revealed that the drugs had a street value of around £3,000.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Mariana Pasteris said her client had turned to selling drugs when he had no other means of income.

She said that he left school with few qualifications, after contracting Guillain-Barre syndrome - a disease which makes the person’s own immune system attack their nerves.

At the time, in 2019, Mukabeta was put on a ventilator in intensive care and was paralysed from the neck down and later wheelchair-bound, only making a full recovery a year later.

Mr Recorder Howard Cohen sentenced him to one year and ten months in a young offender institution.