Man jailed for attempted robbery of Queen’s University student

Remanding 21-year-old David Elliott into custody, Belfast Recorder Judge David McFarland said since the sentence he faced “will be substantial” there was “no reason why he should not start serving it”.

Elliott, of no fixed abode, had denied attempting to rob the Queen’s University, Turkish national student on January 30 last year, and carrying a firearm with intent.

Prosecution lawyer Robin Steer successfully argued that Elliott was the “male on a bicycle” who stopped alongside the student outside her Wellesley Avenue flat off the Lisburn Road in south Belfast before producing a BB gun and demanding her money.

Police who were alerted about the would-be armed robber on a mountain bike later arrested Elliott after spotting his bike in the foyer of a nearby local hostel.

Elliott will be sentenced next month.