Teenage robber is freed

Jun 28 2007 By Paul Beard, Birmingham Mail

A YOUTH who tried to rob a teenager on a Solihull bus has been released after spending 79 days locked up on remand.

Hassan Shigo, 19, of Brockhill Road, Alum Rock, fled to London after being part of a gang which terrorised 17-year-old student Philip Trevena on a No 4 bus in Solihull in November, 2004.

But he was arrested when he returned to Birmingham earlier this year.

He was remanded in custody before appearing at Warwick Crown Court, where he admitted charges of robbery and failing to surrender to bail.

The court heard Shigo was 16 when he was part of a four-strong gang which targeted Mr Trevana.

He asked the victim for a cigarette before all four youths surrounded him. He was held in a headlock and punched in the face as his pockets were rifled.

But the gang fled without taking anything when they were disturbed by the bus driver.

The police were called and all four gang members were arrested at the nearby railway station.

Andrew Tucker, defending, said Shigo, who had no other convictions, "laid low" in Birmingham and then London because he was afraid of what would happen to him in 2004.

He said Shigo had "paid the price for his stupidity" by spending 79 days on remand.

Shigo was sentenced to four months detention but Recorder David Pittaway QC said that would mean his immediate release because of the time he had already spent in custody.