A failed robber fell over in the dock of York Crown Court as he was locked up for nearly three years.

Knifeman Mark Philip Pelling, 33, held up a woman walking her dogs before dawn across a major road bridge on a winter’s morning.

“Give me your bag or I will stab your …… dogs”, he told her, said Rhianydd Clement, prosecuting.

He had hidden his face behind a scarf and hood.

Although the woman feared for her safety she refused to hand the bag  over.

Pelling told her to hand over her purse, but she replied: “What purse? I haven’t got a purse. Who brings a purse on a dog walk at six in the morning?”

Pelling then fled empty-handed. But the woman had spotted a distinctive tattoo on his hand and told police, and within hours, Pelling was under arrest, said Ms Clement.

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When Judge Simon Hickey finished his sentencing remarks, Pelling fell sideways in the dock, but within seconds he was back on his feet and was escorted downstairs to the court cells on his way to prison.

Pelling, of Abbots Walk, Whitby, had originally denied offences of attempted robbery and carrying a knife, but changed his plea on the day of his trial after he asked the judge the likely length of his sentence.  He is now serving two years and nine months in jail. 

New Bridge Whitby where Mark Pelling tried to rob the woman dog walkerNew Bridge Whitby where Mark Pelling tried to rob the woman dog walker (Image: Google Streetview)

In a personal statement, the woman said the day after the incident on New Bridge, Whitby, she was terrified of taking her dogs out for their usual predawn walk. But she told herself she wouldn’t let the robber stop her or prevent her dogs having their exercise and she continues to take them for walks.

She said it was probably as well that she was the victim, not someone with a weak heart or things could have ended much worse.

The judge praised her for being a “strong” woman and praised the efficiency of the police in identifying the robber and when he claimed he wasn't the knifeman, confirming it was by tracing his movements that morning using his mobile phone and CCTV.

In a statement read on his behalf by his barrister Amber Hobson, he said: “I am so sorry from the bottom of my heart.  I was selfish.  I picked on someone I should not have done.  I have never done this before.  I made a mistake.”

The statement asked the woman: “I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, you didn’t deserve this.  You were only walking your dog.”

Ms Clement said the dog walker was on New Bridge, Whitby shortly before 7am on January 29, 2022, when she realised her dogs were behaving oddly and saw Pelling following her.

Ms Hobson said Pelling had initially opted for a trial because he couldn’t face telling his family what he had done.  The robbery bid was out of character. He had mental health problems but had not sought medical help for them.