A KNIFE-wielding teenager threatened to stab a a boy as he robbed him of his AirPod headphones and Nintendo Switch at a Southend town centre skatepark.

Jack Wiseman, 18, targeted the boy at the Warrior Square skatepark before robbing him at knifepoint along with another teenager.

Basildon Crown Court heard how Wiseman, of Pickering Road, Barking, and the other youth demanded the victim hand over his electronics and other items before Wiseman made threats with an eightinch knife.

Prosecuting, Richard PetaPhilip said: “This was a knifepoint robbery, on February 2 he went to the park and Wiseman and another male demanded the victim hand over his phone and Nintendo Switch in an intimidating way.

“Wiseman pulled a kitchen knife with a blade of seven to eight inches long, held it near the victim’s stomach and threatened to stab him.

“The victim believed he was going to die and handed over his bag. The pair got away with his phone, Nintendo Switch, air pods and case, glasses, wallet with his bank card and his bag too.”

He told the court when police searched his address they found a receipt showing he had sold a pair of AirPod headphones at a pawn shop along with a knife and the bank card.

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Mitigating, Sasha Bailey said: “He’s been in and out of the care system for most of his life with a number of different placements and social workers.

“It’s clear there was peer pressure here and he didn’t want to be there. He was keeping up the Joneses and found himself not wanting to be left out.”

Sentencing, Judge Samantha Cohen said: “This was a serious knifepoint robbery and a presentence report shows some troubling and very significant cannabis use by you. This is so serious only an immediate prison sentence is suitable.”

He admitted robbery and having an article with a blade or point and was jailed for two years and four months.

The co-defendant, another teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons, was previously handed a one-year youth rehabilitation order with a threemonth curfew.