A promising athlete from the same club which trained some of Britain’s top Olympians has been jailed for robbing teenagers at gunpoint.
Abdi Abdi, 19, of Aston, Birmingham, represented Birchfield Harriers - where gold medallists Denise Lewis, Mark Lewis-Francis and Kelly Sotherton all started their careers.
But his running career now lies in ruins after he was convicted of firearms and robbery offences committed outside the running club’s Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr, Birmingham, which also hosts the UK Athletics British Grand Prix.
A court heard he robbed ‘vulnerable’ teenagers of expensive bikes and mobile phones at a BMX and skateboarding track just half-a-mile away from the famous stadium.
Adbi admitted one firearms charge and was convicted of two more as well as three robbery offences after a trial in December. He was sentenced to four years’ detention at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday.
Sentencing, Judge Michael Chambers QC said: ‘During the trial your coach spoke about your considerable ability as an athlete and this is the tragedy of this case.
‘You were a promising athlete who had sponsorship and did not need to rob other people. My conclusion is you enjoyed the thrill and peer group esteem from these offences.
‘You and two other Somali young men targeted vulnerable teenage boys with expensive BMX bicycles and mobile phones who frequented the skate park.
‘I am quite satisfied, having heard the evidence, that you planned to rob them.
