King's Lynn mother tells culprit to 'sort yourself out' following knifepoint robbery threat at her son
The mother of a teenager who was threatened with a knife and robbed in Lynn this week, has said the town is "getting worse" for crime.
Tanya Kidman, 38, said her 17-year-old son Tyler called her immediately after being approached by a masked man along the Lynnsport path towards Hamburg Way shortly after 9am on Wednesday.
Mrs Kidman said she took her son straight to the police station and hopes the suspect can be "caught and punished", while also highlighting an alarming increase in offences within Lynn recently.
She said: "This town seems to be getting worse for this sort of thing: thefts, verbal abuse, cycling dangerously on pavements. What can we do to make this better?"
Tyler was very "shaken and withdrawn" after being threatened, and was unable to go to college yesterday.
His mother expects him to be back on Monday and she will be driving him there. She added that Tyler was left "white as a ghost" following the incident.
On the robbery, Mrs Kidman said: "My blood kind of went cold. As a mum you just think what can you do, and just expect the worse in a situation like that. I am just so glad he did not hurt him.
"The man said to him [Tyler] give me everything you have got. He had £10 on him so he chucked it at him and ran away."
Mrs Kidman said her husband and parents were all very worried and upset following the incident. She has not told her other two children, aged 10 and 4, about what happened to their older brother.
She posted a social media post warning people to be vigilant, which had over 2,000 shares by Thursday afternoon.
Speaking about the actions of the culprit, Mrs Kidman told him: "Sort yourself out, you do not go around doing that to people. It's horrible."
Mrs Kidman said Tyler was unable to identify the culprit who had his face covered and who was wearing a hood.
Following the robbery, a spokesman for Norfolk Police said: "He was approached by a man, thought to be in his 20s, who demanded property before showing the victim a knife and threatening him.
"The suspect got away with £10 in cash and the victim was not injured."
Anyone who witnessed the incident, or who has information, is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 36/76069/19.