A teen has turned himself in to the police after learning that the poor victim he had robbed on a street suffered from Asperger’s.
Connor Dawes and his friend were hunting for their target in Nuneaton, Warwickshire when they saw a young man going alone in a street at 10 pm.
The two of them followed the man until he entered a dark alleyway where the teens approached him. And without giving their action a second thought, they knocked him down and stole his phone and wallet.
However, Dawes’s conscience somehow kicked in when he looked inside the wallet and learned that the victim was a patient of Asperger’s – a form of autism.
This was the first time the 19-year-old from Nottingham felt remorse for his way of life. His guilt increased to the extent that he decided to turn himself in to the police.
Although the teen underwent a change of heart, he still had to face punishment for his wrongful action.
Judge Sylvia de Bertodano condemned Dawes’s action and said: “You may not have known this young man had Asperger’s, but you certainly knew he was vulnerable because he was on his own at night, and there were two of you and only one of him.
“This is a young man who struggles in life, and he has described in moving terms how much worse that struggle has become as a result of this.
“It is a great shame you come before the court for such a serious offense. It is clear that this was out of character.
“I have two boys to consider; not just you but the boy you attacked and robbed. The message has to go out that people who do that go to prison.”
Dawes was sentenced to 2 years in jail at Warwick Crown Court.
Although he felt remorse over targeting an autistic person, would he have felt the same over having victimized a normal member of the society?
However, the good thing is his conscience wasn’t all lost!