TWO men who threatened students claiming they had a knife in three separate robberies have been jailed.

Daniel Bancroft, 21, and Daniel Reid, 20, appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday charged with two counts of robbery and one attempted robbery.

Reid, of New Laithe Close, Lowerhouses, was given three years but Bancroft, of Tinderley Grove, Almondbury, had committed other offences and was jailed for five years.

The court heard how the pair approached lone students on three evenings in September last year.

Prosecutor Giles Bench told the court the first attack happened when a male student was walking along Firth Street on September 9 last year when he was approached by two men.

Mr Bench told the court: “He became aware of the defendants walking behind him – he had his iPod on. He tried to ignore them but they approached and put an arm on his shoulder.

“He was told the robbers had a knife and handed over his phone.”

The next attack happened the following evening at Firth Street car park when the defendants pinned a male student to railings and forced him to hand over his wallet, the court was told.

And the attempted robbery happened on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal towpath at 7.10pm the following evening when a female student was grabbed by the arm.

She told the pair she didn’t have a mobile phone then lunged at one of the defendants with her umbrella and fled.

The defendants were subsequently arrested in Kingsgate shopping centre and their home addresses searched and bank cards and driving licences were recovered.

In mitigation for Reid, the court heard he lost his job and run up a drugs debt. The court heard he had taken steps to address this in prison and taken a number of courses offered.

Bancroft of Almondbury was also sentenced for robbery at Armitage’s Garden Centre in Shelley the month prior to the robberies and was on bail at the time.

He also pleaded guilty to inciting sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl.

The court heard he asked a girl to become his friend on Facebook. The girl agreed and the pair messaged and the conversation became sexual.

He implied he had the house to himself in May last year and asked whether she would come round for sex and she said agreed, the court heard.

But the Facebook conversations were discovered by a family member and police alerted.

Judge Spencer QC said: “Bancroft, you are 21 and Reid, you are 20 and both have previous convictions for serious offences.”

He told Bancroft: “You contacted a vulnerable 14-year-old girl and invited her to be a friend on Facebook. The intention was to develop sexual relations which you hoped to come to pass in May 2012.

And he said to both: “The most serious matter in this case is a series of robberies between September 9 to 11.

“It seems to me because of your previous convictions and the nature of the offences a prison sentence is necessary.”

He sentenced both defendants to three years for the attempted robbery and two robberies.

Bancroft was sentenced to 12 months for inciting sexual activity with a girl under 16 and 12 months for the burglary at Armitage’s Garden Centre to run consecutively. He was also issued with a sexual prevention order.