Gary Hughes, 30, threatened to make a false sex assault claim about his victim before assaulting him and stealing his phone
A robber threatened to make a false sexual assault claim to police before attacking a man and stealing his phone.
Gary Hughes, 30, was jailed for four years after he pestered and assaulted a pub-goer.
Weeks after release from jail, he started bothering the victim in Goldies pub in Stockton.
He asked: “Do you want me to get one of them lasses to sit on your knee?”
The pub customer, who was “merry” after a Christmas party, said no and bought Hughes a drink to try to get rid of him.
Hughes followed and carried on pestering him as he left and walked home, despite being told to go away, Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday.
Hughes started asking for money as they neared a railway bridge in the early hours of December 21 last year.
He said: “If you don’t give me money, I’ll tell the police that you touched me up.”
The other man replied “go on then”, and as he started to use his phone, he felt a blow to the head and fell to the floor.
Prosecutor Sue Jacobs said he was punched, kicked and blacked out for a short time.
When he came around, his assailant had run off with his £300 iPhone and his wallet. He suffered “lumps and bumps” to his head, pain to his ribs and shortness of breath.
He later said he was angry about the robbery.
Hughes, of Hartington Road, Stockton, admitted robbery, his 58th criminal offence.
He had previous convictions for robbery and theft, and had served a string of increasingly tough custodial sentences - 20 months in 2006, two years in 2008 then 30 months in 2010.
Peter Wishlade, defending, said no great force was used and Hughes denied kicking or attacking from behind.
“It is therefore a relatively simple street robbery,” he said.
Hughes remembered nothing about having the phone - though he admitted picking it up - and said he didn’t know what happened to it.
Mr Wishlade said: “This is not a totally one-sided incident.”
He said Hughes claimed he was headbutted by the victim in the pub and asked him why, leading to a “heated” conversation as they walked outside.
The victim said he “pushed his head away with my head” in the pub, said Mr Wishlade.
He added that Hughes was remorseful and was doing well tackling his drug addiction.
Judge Peter Bowers told Hughes: “You know this was a serious offence. On any view you were pestering the victim. It’s made worse by the fact that it happened in the early hours of the morning. You were in drink.
“At the time you’d just been released from a six-month sentence. You were probably on licence for that as well. Your record’s appalling really,” he added, jailing Hughes for four years.
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