Street robbers savagely beat up a man in Newcastle city centre in broad daylight for the sake of £20.
The victim was on Clayton Street around 5pm on August 9 and was looking for a man to whom he would sometimes give cash. He was approached by a woman and got talking to her and later agreed to buy some cannabis from her.
She left and returned shortly afterwards with Ian Irwin, McRae Fairbairn and another man. They said they knew where the man he was initially looking for was and told him to follow them.
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As they walked along Dispensary Lane, one of them said "show us your money then" and the man produced two £10 notes. Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said he was then attacked, which was caught on CCTV. He told the court: "Irwin grabbed him round the neck from behind and pulled him to the ground."
Fairbairn tried to prise the £20 from his hand and Irwin punched the victim to the face and body multiple times while he was sitting on him to restrain him. Fairbairn grabbed the £20 and Irwin kicked him two times to the head before they walked away.
Mr Pallister said: "The victim got up and ran after the defendants and Irwin again attacked him, hitting his head off railings several times and throwing him to the ground.
"They walked off but the victim followed them on Stowell Street asking for his money back. There was a further altercation in the middle of the road between them and the victim again ended up on the ground."
Police were called and the victim was taken to hospital, where he was found to have a bloodied mouth, bruises and cuts to his head and swelling and bruising to his mouth. The man said he also suffered a fractured rib and said in a victim impact statement: "Since the robbery I've been anxious about leaving my home and I don't go out as often as I used to as I've lost confidence.
"I fear something similar will happen again. When I was attacked it came out of nowhere. I'm now anxious, nervous and wary. I suffered a fractured rib which was very painful."
Fairbarin, who has 45 previous convictions, including robbery and violence and Irwin, 43, of Abbott House Newcastle, who has 107 previous convictions, mostly for burglary and theft, both admitted robbery. They were each jailed for three years.
Penny Hall, for Irwin, said: "He is remorseful and regrets what happened and acknowledges the effect of his actions on the victim."
Sophie Allinson, for Fairbairn, said: "It's clearly a very unpleasant, unsavoury offending. It's right to say he remembers very little about the offence. He presents as someone who's thoughtful, reasonable and insightful."
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