A violent robber who “put the fear of death” into teenagers on London’s transport network in a two-week spree of knifepoint phone muggings has been jailed for more than ten years.

Teddy Kelt was 19-years-old when he embarked on the one-man crimewave, arming himself with a knife or a machete to rob victims of their phones on trains and buses.

He specifically targeted teenagers, demanding they hand over phones, iPads, and laptops and threatened to stab them if they did not comply.

Kelt kidnapped one teenager from a bus in a robbery for his phone and tablet, forcing him on to different buses for a terrifying four-mile journey at knifepoint across north London.

When he was captured, Kelt had carried out yet another robbery while armed with acid, Inner London crown court heard.

On Wednesday, Judge David Richards jailed Kelt for ten-and-a-half years, telling him: “You repeatedly put the fear of death into the victims to steal their phones, causing long-term damage to the victims.

“You were on any view a prolific offender and a danger on the train and bus network.

“You terrorised the people of London, deliberately targeting teenage males. You had no hesitation to produce and threaten the use of a fatal weapon.”

The judge added that Kelt will spend an extra four years on licence after the end of his prison term, after branding him a dangerous offender.

“It seems only a matter of time before someone is left with life-threatening injuries or worse”, he added.

Kelt, of Bower Close in Romford, watched over a videolink from prison as he was sentenced.

He began the crime spree on December 1 when he sat on the 134 bus and demanded eight boys, aged 14 and 15, hand over their phones.

Kelt selected four phones that he wanted to keep before leaving the bus, in Kentish Town.

“It’s no coincidence that they were all that age”, said the judge. “That’s exactly who you were looking for.”

On December 4, around 9.30pm, Kelt followed a 22-year-old man onto the platform at Mile End Underground station, told him he had a knife and threatened to stab him if he called for help. After taking the victim’s phone, he searched his pockets, slapped him, pushed him to the floor, and left the station.

The following day, he sat next to a 16-year-old boy on a Jubilee line train, showed him a machete and demanded his phone. Kelt ordered the teenager to sign out of iCloud, and threatened to “find him” if he reported the robbery, the court heard.

The boy has been left “very wary and on edge” after the incident, he told the court in an impact statement.

The same day, Kelt kidnapped a 16-year-old boy in a prolonged robbery which started on the 263 bus towards East Finchley.

He sat next to the victim and threatened to stab him if he did not hand over his mobile phone. Kelt then demanded his iPad from his school bag, and forced the boy to get off the bus and go to a nearby McDonalds in order to reset the device on WiFi.

Kelt, armed with a hunting knife, forced the victim to take a bus to Muswell Hill, and get on another bus to Finsbury Park before he finally let him go.

The court heard the boy has been left traumatised by the ordeal and his schooling has suffered.

“It was a terrifying example of its kind”, said the judge.

Two days later, Kelt attempted to rob three people on a Northern line train towards Totteridge and Whetstone, threatening a 21-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy before dropping his knife and leaving the train.

Also on 7 December, he approached a man on the platform at Finchley Central and asked to borrow his phone. After following him onto the train and showing the handle of a knife in his waistband, Kelt threatened to kill him. The victim handed over his phone, laptop and iPad before being forced to get off the train at Tufnell Park, where Kelt robbed him again of headphones and a rucksack inside a newsagent.

The victim of that incident told the court he now “fears for his safety and constantly looks over his shoulder”.

Later that day, Kelt tried to rob a 17-year-old of their phone on an Elizabeth line train, threatening to stab them before other passengers intervened. He attempted to punch one of them.

Soon after, on another Elizabeth line train, he threatened to “slash” another teenager’s neck while trying to steal his phone before walking off.

Kelt was captured on December 9, shortly after he had armed himself with hydrochloric acid for a robbery at Gidea Park in Romford.

He was jailed in April for three years and nine months for a string of robberies and attempted robberies carried out at Ilford, Gidea Park, Goodmayes, Bexleyheath and Seven Kings, as well as possessing Class C drugs and a corrosive substance.

But he had to be resentenced this week after the full extent of his crimes became clear.

Detective Sergeant Steven Ridpath-Mitchell said: “Kelt is an exceedingly violent and dangerous individual who spent four days mostly targeting teenagers, threatening them at knifepoint, for his own benefit. I hope that his guilty plea provides some sense of closure to the victims after he put them through such an awful ordeal.

“He’s shown no remorse for his actions, either refusing to be interviewed or providing no comment or reply. The threats that he made against innocent commuters and the violence he used to rob them of their belongings is frankly sickening.”

Kelt pleaded guilty a total of 19 charges, including multiple robberies and attempted robberies, kidnapping, assault, possession of knives, and public order offences.

The court heard he has ASD and ADHD, a long-standing cannabis habit, and he himself was the victim of a serious assault in 2020. Kelt said he was suffering from paranoia at the time of the offences, as a consequence of his drug taking.

He will be the subject of a 15-year criminal behaviour order, limiting his ability to use public transport when he is free from prison.