Robber held screwdriver to man's neck demanding: 'give me cash or i'll kill you'

A crack cocaine addict grabbed a man by his neck and put a screwdriver in his mouth during a terrifying street robbery. Craig Short, 35, told his petrified victim: "Give me your money

or I will kill you!" on February 22. When the man said he had no cash, Short marched him to an ATM across the road and held the screwdriver to his neck. Teesside Crown Court heard that

the man was so scared he put the wrong PIN into the machine. Short grabbed his phone, while he tried again. The screen showed that the victim had just £30 in his account. Short grabbed the

cash, returned the phone and told the man that he "would kill him" if he reported the matter to the police. This week, he appeared in court on video link from Holme House prison.

The court heard that the victim was walking down Duke Street, Hartlepool, after collecting some keys from his parent's home. He saw Short come out of another home on the street before

he was grabbed by the neck. The victim called police, who visited Short's home address on Duke Street the following morning. CCTV showed that Short was wearing the same clothes he wore

during the attack. Police also found the screwdriver at his home. He later pleaded guilty to robbery and the possession of an offensive weapon. Short has previous convictions for another

cashpoint robbery in 2011 where he was jailed for six year; attempted robbery in 2017 where he was handed a two-year-three-month sentence; and the possession of an offensive weapon in 2021 -

when he was caught with a golf ball inside a sock. Last year, the dad-of-two was jailed for two-years, after he smashed his way into a Hartlepool house, as the couple who live cowered in

their bathroom. He was released shortly before his latest robbery. In mitigation, Calum McNicholas said that Short was suffering from "a very, very severe crack cocaine addiction at the

time" and that "he hasn't asked me to advance any excuse for his behaviour." Judge Mark McKone jailed Short for four-years-and-two-months. FOR DAILY NEWS FROM

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