Belfast Crown Court sees man sentenced for would-be robbery with flick knife

Stock image of Laganside court building in Belfast
-Credit: (Image: Belfast Live)


A 22-year old man who carried out an attempted robbery in the stairwell of an apartment block in Belfast whilst brandishing a flick knife was jailed today (Friday).

A sentence of 32 months was imposed on Taylor Lee Easton Sederquest by Judge Philip Gilpin who divided the term between 12 months in custody followed by 20 months on licence.

From Morven Park in Ballybeen, Sederquest admitted charges of attempted robbery and possessing an offensive weapon on October 30, 2023. Belfast Crown Court heard that around 5.30pm on that date, the PSNI received a report regarding an incident at The Mount apartment block in the east of the city.

Police were informed that a man had been threatened in the stairwell of the building by an unknown male who produced a knife and said ‘empty your pockets or I’m going to stab you’.

This prompted the man to run up the stairwell and he was not pursued by Sederquest, whom he later confirmed as the would-be robber in a subsequent police identification procedure. A short time after the attempted robbery, a resident of The Mount noticed Sederquest loitering outside his front door.

Due to Sederquest’s apparent intoxicated state, the resident was concerned about his welfare, gave him his bus fare and walked him to the Glider stop. During this walk, Sederquest showed the resident a large kitchen knife which he produced from under his belt as well as the flick knife.

This prompted the resident to contact the PSNI and when Sederquest got off the Glider in Ballyhackamore at 6.40pm, he was arrested.

Sederquest - who has 43 previous convictions - was interviewed by police and made the claim he had been at a party on the Ormeau Road and denied being in The Mount apartment block.

Despite this false claim, he pleaded guilty to the two offences and told a Probation Officer that whilst he accepted responsibility, his memory from that day was unclear due to the concoction of substances he had consumed.

He also told his Probation Officer that he wanted to extend an apology to his victim and said that he made a ‘very big mistake’ last October. Regarding the attempted robbery whilst branding a flick-knife, defence barrister Sean Mullan acknowledged that whilst it would have been a frightening experience for the victim, “there was no physical contact and thankfully no injury was sustained”.

Judge Gilpin said he had considered further defence submissions which included Sederquest’s ADHD diagnosis in early childhood and his drug misuse. The Judge noted that due to Sederquest’s drug addiction, his mother recalled him selling most of his possessions when he was aged 14 to fund his habit.

The court heard that whilst on remand, Sederquest has taken steps to address his addiction issues, has passed a recent drugs test and that a prison chaplain has sourced a 12-month rehabilitation programme in England which the defendant could attend. After imposing the sentence, Judge Gilpin expressed the hope that Sederquest will avail of the opportunity to attend the programme.

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