Baseball-bat wielding teenager made threats on Leeds street days after drug-dealing conviction

Joshua Compston was told by a judge at Leeds Crown Court that he appeared to be “doing his level best to be locked up” after the latest incident in Armley.

Compston became irate when he suspected a man he knew had stolen his bicycle from outside the back of his home on Armey Ridge Road in September of last year, so went round to challenge him. It was heard that the suspect refused to come out his house but told Compston that he had already sold on the bike.

Furious, Compston rang his brother who turned up in his car a short time later armed with baseball bats. Compston was then heard “screaming like a banshee” and making threats as up to 20 people gathered to witness the commotion on nearby Highthorne View.

The 19-year-old was arrested and later admitted a charge of affray and possession of an offensive weapon in public.

The court heard that just seven days prior, Compston had been handed a suspended sentence for dealing in amphetamine. He also has previous convictions for dealing in cannabis in 2020, and a public order offence from 2017.

Mitigating, Stephen Smithson said Compston had bought the bicycle for £275 and had used it to get work in Leeds where he was manager at a catering company. He had lost the job after his drug-dealing conviction a week earlier.

He conceded that the confrontation involving the baseball bats escalated and turned into an “ugly situation” but said: “He is a very naive young man which is reflected in the way he converses and behaves. He needs a great deal of support in every aspect of his life.”

A probation report suggested he was remorseful and acknowledges that he should not have approached the suspect. It was heard that he had a difficult upbringing and became homeless when he was 14. The probation officer said he wanted to achieve basic maths and English qualifications and planned to eventually go to building college.

His brother had previously been dealt with by the courts for the incident, being handed a community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, but Judge Andrew Stubbs KC pointed out that he had no previous convictions.

He pondered over whether to activate the existing suspended sentence, and told Compston: “You are doing your level best to get locked up. You and your brother decided to take the law into your own hands.

"You asked for your bike back and trouble flared up. You were screaming like a banshee and threatening people on the street. Fortunately nobody was hurt.”

He opted to hand him a new six-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, 200 hours of unpaid work and a three-month electronically-monitored curfew to keep him at home on an evening.

Judge Stubbs added: “You have come perilously close to tasting detention for the first time today. It’s a sentence of last resort.”