Knife-wielding robber jailed after violent spree

A custody image of Noah Hardingham. He has a shaved head and is wearing a grey T-shirt and sitting against a grey background
The police officer needed hospital treatment after Noah Hardingham attacked him with a concrete slab [Cambridgeshire Police]

A man who attacked two people at knifepoint and hit a police officer on the head with a concrete slab has been jailed.

Noah Hardingham, 19, of Lowburyholme Road, Over, Cambridgeshire, held a knife to the neck of one of two men in a car, ordered them out of the vehicle and drove off on 17 June.

He also threatened two other men with a concrete slab and when the police arrived, threw it at one of the officers, leaving him with a laceration to his face.

Hardingham pleaded guilty to charges including robbery, wounding with intent and taking a car without consent at Huntingdon Law Court on Friday. He was sentenced to four years and four months in a young offender institution.

Car found abandoned

The robbery took place at High Piece Crescent, Over, at about 21:30 BST on 17 June, according to Cambridgeshire Police.

Hardingham approached two men sitting in a car, held a knife to the neck of one victim and told the other to drive to the end of the road.

Brandishing the knife, he told them to get out, saying "it's not worth losing your lives over a car".

It was later found abandoned at the side of the road.

The men did not report the robbery and two of their friends confronted him the next day, chasing him and punching him repeatedly in the head.

Hardingham retaliated by going to their home, armed with smashed wine glasses and a concrete slab, with which he attacked the police.

PC Andy Watters said it was "extremely frightening for all victims involved" and he "showed no remorse for his violent behaviour".

Hardingham pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and one count each of wounding with intent, criminal damage, possession of a Class B drug, taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, possession of a knife in a public place and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

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