Machete attack after robber targets victim

A ROBBERY victim watched on in horror as her partner was attacked with a machete when attempts to get her to drop the charges ended in street violence.

- By ROB KENNEDY

The woman had been targeted by Ricky Coates and another man in a taxi while she was carrying hundreds of pounds.

While under investigation for that, Coates spotted her in the West End of Newcastle with her partner and asked her to withdraw her support for the prosecution.

He then recruited reinforcements in the form of a mystery machete-wielding man, who hit the woman's partner to the head with the weapon in ugly scenes caught on CCTV.

Now Coates, 26, of Dilston Road, Newcastle, has been given a jail sentence at Newcastle Crown Court.

The woman was about to get in a taxi to go home on June 4, 2023 when she was approached by Coates and another man. They asked to use the taxi but she said she wanted to get home.

However, the pair got in the taxi and the woman put a bag containing cash down her trousers. The other man shouted at Coates to “get the bag, it’s down her pants” and he grabbed at the bag.