A TATTOO artist who used a Taser-like weapon to rob a barman in York then assaulted another man less than an hour later has been jailed for five years. York Crown Court heard how Michael Masters and an accomplice robbed Robert Brooks in Shipton Street, Clifton, as he was walking home from work.

Masters, 28, of Cromer Street, Clifton, pleaded guilty to robbery, possessing a prohibited weapon and causing actual bodily harm.

David Hall, for the prosecution, said Mr Brooks tried to run away after being tasered in his leg, but was grabbed by the second offender.

He said: “The defendant then started using the Taser on the victim’s right knee, while the second male hit him with a small monkey wrench.”

Mr Hall said Masters, who has a 12-month-old son with his fiancée, repeatedly demanded Mr Brooks hand him his wallet, but the victim did not have it on him.

He said Mr Brooks eventually fell to the ground after his muscles gave way due to the tasering – but Masters continued to taser him in the neck at two-second intervals.

The victim’s ordeal, in the early hours of January 10, finally came to an end after the second offender rifled through his shoulder bag to find an iPhone and passport and the pair ran off with these belongings.

Mr Brooks suffered taser wounds to his face and abdomen, as well as a minor injury to his left shoulder. He was taken to York Hospital for a check-up.

Less than an hour later, at 3.30am, Masters and the same accomplice approached their second victim, Peter Skelton, at the junction between Burton Stone Lane and Shipton Street.

Mr Hall said: “The defendant was saying ‘hit him, hit him’. The second male started to hit the victim in the face.

“He reacted rigorously and ended up on the ground, where they both laid into him.

“He fought for his life and managed to get back up on his feet, at which point these two men ran off.”

Masters broke down in the dock as his defence barrister, Ahmed Bashir, told the court how his drug use had spiralled out of control after the death of his father and the disappearance of his brother.

Mr Bashir said Masters, who owns a tattoo parlour in the centre of York, was extremely remorseful and wanted to publicly apologise to his victims.

Sentencing Masters, the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst told him: “The thoughts that must have gone through Mr Brooks’ mind as he was tasered time after time by you in a very callous way really doesn’t bear thinking about.

“Quite clearly the motivation was money to fund your increasing drug habit.”


‘He seemed to take pleasure out of what he was doing’

VICTIM Robert Brooks has told how it felt to be shot with a stun gun – and says it has left him nervous at night.

The 28-year-old, who works as a barman at the Old White Swan in Goodramgate, said: “At the time it was very painful. It felt like a hot, pinching pain and it left my muscles very sore.”

Speaking to The Press after the sentencing, Mr Brooks said: “I’m relieved and pleased that he has been put away from the public.

“What he did was abhorrent and terribly violent. He even seemed to be taking pleasure in what he was doing.”

He said he now felt very nervous when he was walking alone at night and still suffered from occasional twinges in his neck.