A PAIR who robbed a man of his wallet and phone have been jailed for a total of 13 years.

Sex worker Kerrie McLane and friend Christopher Bonner carried out the knifepoint robbery within seconds of the customer turning up at a house in Rosebery Street on March 13, 2019. He had earlier arranged to have sex with 48-year-old McLane

During Bonner’s trial last year, the victim said the masked attacker, who was wearing a khaki jacket and a black scarf covering the bottom of his face, shouted “where’s ya money?” His wallet and phone were stolen.

On Monday, Judge Jason Taylor QC jailed McLane for five years and 10 months and sent Bonner, 51, down for seven years and two months.

He said of the robbery: “On that occasion you both set up a robbery on an unsuspecting member of the public who had agreed to pay for sex, no doubt working on the basis he would be too embarrassed to report it.

“It was clearly planned and you both bear equal responsibility. [McLane], you ensured Mr Bonner was inside the property waiting to ambush him. Once inside, Mr Bonner, you covered your face and came at him with a knife, punching him and asking for his [phone].

“It may well have been short lived, indeed the victim was only inside the property for only two minutes, but that does not lessen the fear he would have experienced and the effects on him are set out in his victim personal statement.

“They cannot and should not be minimised.”

READ MORE: Man convicted of robbing sex worker's client at knifepoint

McLane was on bail when she carried out the robbery in March 2019. The previous year, on October 7, 2018, she held a kitchen knife with a six inch blade to the stomach of a male driver who’d picked her up in his car. She threatened him after an argument about her and a female friend injecting drugs in his vehicle.

He received a minor injury in a struggle with the blade. His driver’s licence and bank card were stolen.

Bonner was caught red-handed stealing from Westlea soft play area Kidz About in February 2020, while he was on bail and awaiting trial for the robbery allegation.

The owner of the play area spotted Bonner on the business’s CCTV system, the court heard. He went down to the premises at the old Renault Building and also alerted the police. When officers arrived they found the thief with a burglar’s toolkit of gloves, pliers and a pair of scissors.

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CCTV shows Christopher Bonner arriving at the house in Rosebery Street Picture: CPS WESSEX

McLane, who appeared in court via video link from women’s prison HMP Eastwood Park, read a letter to the judge in which she admitted there was no excuse for her behaviour. She had recently been diagnosed with a mental health condition and said she was now finally getting the right help and “starting to respect myself”.

Bonner was said by the probation service to be a low risk of reoffending. Although he was given an eight year sentence for robbery in 1997 there had been significant gaps in his offending since then.

McLane, of Curtis Street, admitted robbery, possession of a knife, actual bodily harm and theft. Bonner, of Station Road, was found guilty of robbery but admitted a non-dwelling burglary.