Man threatened victim with knife before stealing car he was pretending to buy

In another incident, the 23-year-old drove off with a Mercedes Coupe after pretending he wanted to buy it and taking a test drive

A man who pulled out a knife on a person he pretended he wanted to buy a car from has been jailed.

Hamza Ali, 23, met his first victim in Bretton, Peterborough, under the pretence that he was interested in buying a Mercedes Coupe. Ali went as far as to test drive the car with his victim in the passenger seat.

As the victim got out to move back to the driver’s seat, Ali drove off. Ali was arrested on January 19 after police received reports the Mercedes had been stolen and it was sitting outside Ali’s home in Watergall, Bretton.

It was later found out Ali committed a robbery with the same strategy in March 2025. In the 2025 incident, Ali met his victim in Ravensthorpe claiming he was interested in buying a car. However, when he was inspecting the vehicle, he brandished a knife and pulled the victim out of the car, before driving off with it.

At Cambridge Crown Court on July 30, Ali was sentenced to 21 months in prison. He pleaded guilty to robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, and driving whilst disqualified. He was also banned from driving for 27 months and two days.

Detective Constable Pete Wise, who investigated, said: “The fact Ali used the same ploy twice showed his offending was planned, and he knew exactly what he was doing. I would like to thank all those involved for reporting these incidents to us and being co-operative throughout the investigation.”