A notorious mugger who prowled Stoke Newington threatening to shoot and stab children if they didn’t give him their pocket money has been jailed.

Marvin Melvin-Browne, 30, spread fear across the community as he went on a terrifying crime spree from November to January, targeting victims as young as 11.

One 17-year-old boy, who he robbed twice, said he still has problems leaving the house after the attacks.

Homeless Melvin-Browne was jailed for six years today at Wood Green Crown Court after pleading guilty to seven robberies and four attempted robberies last month.

He was caught on CCTV and Hackney CID were able to speak to numerous witnesses, who revealed the attacker was well known in the area as “Marvin”.

An appeal in the Gazette in January helped link him to another robbery and he was arrested soon after at a family address in Clapton.

Melvin-Browne has previous convictions for robbery in 2001, robbery and two attempted robberies in 2002 and another robbery in 2008, for which he was jailed for two-and-a-half years.

One victim, 23, told the Gazette he was approached by Melvin-Browne outside Sainsbury’s in Stoke Newington High Street and asked for money to buy fried chicken.

“He grabbed me and asked for money and I said no,” said the man, who asked not to be named. “He said if I find out you’ve got money on you I’ll shoot you, and I thought he obviously wasn’t going to shoot me because if he’s asking for money he won’t have a gun.

“So I stayed calm and walked back to the high street – I mean, if he hit me I’d go down like a sack of s***. He followed me and I said ‘fine I’ll go to the cashpoint but don’t follow me’. And he didn’t and I walked off.”

Senior investigating officer Det Insp Paul Ridley said Melvin-Browne had carefully targeted people around Rectory Road Overground station at night.

He said: “It is abundantly clear that the intimidating behaviour of Melvin-Browne significantly escalated as he continued his relentless offending campaign, threatening to shoot several of his victims including an eleven year old boy.

“To target young teenage boys, on one occasion the same boy twice, as a grown man, with the clear assertion they would be stabbed merely for not wishing to hand over their pocket money, graphically demonstrates his callous nature.

“I must pay tribute to the courageous males who approached the police and investigation team directly, especially the young vulnerable victims, which helped us to identify and convict this notorious and dangerous defendant.”

Melvin-Browne was also given a three-year extended licence period by the judge.