A Suffolk man who was involved in a robbery on a man who was making his way home after a night out has been jailed for six years.

Sentencing Jamie Dale, Judge John Holt said the robbery, which involved two other men, had been pre-planned and was a serious offence.

He said Dale had come across the victim of the robbery, who had been drinking, as he walked home after a night out in Haverhill and had guided him to where his two colleagues were waiting.

He said that during the mugging Stephen Husband had been punched in the face and then kicked while he was on the ground by the other men while Dale had gone through his pockets.

Dale, 22, of Boxford Court, Haverhill, had denied robbing Mr Husband in July last year but was found guilty by a 10-2 majority verdict by a jury at Ipswich Crown Court after a trial.

Emma Nash, prosecuting, told the court that Dale had been jailed in 2010 for 56 months for robbery and had been released from that sentence in March last year.

Since his arrest for robbing Mr Husband his licence had been revoked and he had been taken back into custody.

During the trial Mr Husband told the court that when he got back to his flat following the mugging his face was “pouring” with blood and he found his mobile phone and wallet were missing. The court heard that Mr Husband had been “eight out of 10 drunk” and as he walked home he had been joined by Dale, who he had not met before.

Shortly afterwards they had been approached by two men who Dale appeared to know and as they carried on walking one of the men had punched Mr Husband in the face.

Mr Husband later told police that Dale had gone through his pockets after he went to the ground.

Dale had taken Mr Husband’s phone to a shop and sold it for £42, the court was told.

Giving evidence during the trial, Dale said he had walked away when the other two men started arguing with Mr Husband but had gone back and pulled the men off him when he saw them kicking him in the head.

He denied going through Mr Husband’s pockets and denied robbing him.