Harlow: Mum of child robbed at knifepoint praises response

“I can’t praise Harlow Police enough. We were updated regularly throughout the case.
“People had said to me: ‘He won’t be caught, you won’t hear anything back’.
“They have been proven wrong. Throughout the case they made sure [my son] was okay, they made sure we as a family were okay.”

Those are the words of the mum of a 15-year-old boy who was robbed at knifepoint in Harlow.

The culprit, 19-year-old Ellis Brown, has been jailed for four years.

Knifepoint robbery

His victim had been cycling through an underpass near Netteswell Orchard, Harlow, on Wednesday 8 May, accompanied by a friend.

They were approached by Brown, who drew a large, Rambo-style knife and threatened the pair.

After the boy attempted to flee, Brown gave chase, shouting for the boy to drop his bag on the floor.

The victim discarded his bag and Brown picked it up, before fleeing the scene.

It contained the victim’s phone and a small sum of cash.

Officers attended and carried out immediate enquiries, circulating CCTV stills of the suspect, interviewing the victim and identifying witnesses to speak to.

On Tuesday 9 July this year, Brown was spotted on CCTV in Braintree town centre appearing to engage in a drug deal.

The following day, he was stopped by an officer out on foot patrol, with an amount of cannabis, several wraps of crack cocaine and a mobile phone in his possession, all of which were seized.

He was arrested and charged with robbery, possession of a knife in a public place, possession with intent to supply a Class A drug and possession of cannabis.

Brown, of Beadon Drive, Braintree, appeared for sentence at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday 6 September after pleading guilty to all charges against him.

He was also sentenced for a previous robbery he committed in Witham in August 2023, whereby he threatened another victim with a flick knife before stealing his coat.

He was sentenced to a total of four years’ detention in a young offender institution.

'I hope he learns this isn't a way to live'

The mother of the victim in the Harlow robbery, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her son’s identity, added:

“After the incident, the officers came round to see him to take his statement, made sure he was comfortable talking about what had happened and making sure he didn’t feel worried telling his truth.
“The person who did this to my son is still so young. To do this kind of thing, just for a phone, is it really worth it?
“I’m glad he got caught and I’m glad he got the sentence he did, but I truly hope he learns from this.
“I hope he learns that this isn’t a way of life – you can’t behave like this all for taking someone’s mobile phone.
“He risked his own life in a way that day. If he’d done that to someone who also had a knife, it could have ended badly.
“I don’t know him and I don’t know his background, but I hope maybe he realises the gravity of what he’s done.”

Detective Constable Rebecca Barber, of Harlow CID, said:

“We take a tough stance on anyone who feels it is acceptable to carry and use knives to commit any type of crime.
“These offences will always be treated as a priority by our teams, with the safeguarding of victims a constant consideration throughout so they feel able to support the investigation.
“We pursued every avenue open to us to ensure we arrested and charged the person responsible.
“The victim in this case was left feeling understandably anxious about venturing out in public again, but I’m pleased to hear his outlook is slowly improving knowing that the person responsible is no longer on the streets.
“Robbery is a terrifying and violating crime and we continue to work with partners to establish why offenders, particularly young men, feel it necessary to arm themselves with knives.”

Ongoing work

Our wider work to tackle knife crime in Essex is continuing, this month focused on a national surrender scheme.

We're proactively engaging with residents in high harm hotspots across the county this week to encourage them to surrender any potentially illegal knives.

On the first morning of deployments in Southend, more than 20 knives were voluntarily handed over to officers from our Op Grip team and Operational Support Group (OSG).

Op Grip hotspot patrolling zones are areas data analysis shows have a higher probability of a serious violent incident.

Read more on these deployments and the surrender scheme on our website.

Knife crime in Essex has fallen by 7% since the pandemic.

Are you worried that a friend or someone you know may be being exploited through County Lines or organised criminal activity?

Maybe they are returning home late, staying out all night or even going missing for days or weeks at a time.

Are they suddenly being secretive about who they are talking to or where they are going?

Or perhaps you’ve noticed they have large amounts of money on them, or new clothing, jewellery or phones they wouldn’t be able to afford.

Through Fearless, young people can pass on information 100% anonymously to get help.

If you need help from police, call 101 or, if it's an emergency, always call 999.

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