Man cleared of robbery

A MAN accused of robbing a pizza delivery driver as he dropped off a hoax food order at a town centre flat has been found not guilty by a jury.

Frderick Turner, 20, of no fixed address, had denied robbing Kerim Staples on October 27 last year of ice cream, soft drinks, �27 cash and a mobile phone. He was cleared after a two-day trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

Mr Staples, who worked for Dominos in Bramford Road, Ipswich, had been asked to take a large order of pizza, drinks and ice-cream to an address in Station Street.

When Mr Staples got to the address he couldn’t see anyone outside so he entered the block of flats through an open door.

As he walked into the building he saw two men coming down a flight of stairs. The pair told Mr Staples that the occupants of the flat he was going to had gone out for five minutes.

As Mr Staples started to walk down the stairs one of the men allegedly grabbed the collar of his jacket with both hands and pushed him against a wall, the court heard.

The other male allegedly looked at him in an intimidating way and Mr Staples was forced to hand over a carrier bag containing ice cream and soft drinks, a bag containing �27 cash and his mobile phone.

Turner denied being involved in the robbery and said he had either been at his father’s house in Norfolk or at his mother’s home near Thetford at the time.