Savage Newcaste city centre street robbers left bar worker badly injured and stamped on homeless man

Street robbers left two men badly injured with gratuitous violence to steal from them in Newcastle city centre.

Jamie Pollard carried out both attacks, one of them on a homeless man with Steven Smith and the other on a bar worker with Donna Teague. The homeless man was stamped on and repeatedly punched in his makeshift bed, while the second victim suffered a broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the first victim was a Romanian man who was homeless and sleeping rough in Newcastle city centre. On the evening of April 8 this year, he made his bed at the bottom of an underground stairwell behind Old Eldon Square.

READ MORE:Newcastle teenager whose brother was murdered spared prison for dealing crack cocaine

READ MORE:Whitley Bay man in court accused of biting part of male's ear off during brawl

Stuart Graham, prosecuting, said: "He was asleep when he was attacked by the defendants Pollard and Smith by being stamped on and then being repeatedly punched by both defendants.

"The defendants took their time searching him, going through his pockets and eventually stealing his rucksack, which contained his passport and other documents and some food."

The victim was left with facial injuries which required hospital treatment and he was covered in blood when he flagged down a police officer. He was also visibly upset and had swelling and cuts to his face.

Pollard and Smith were identified from CCTV, which showed the victim being threatened with a pole at one point.

Keep up to date with all the latest court news from the North East with our free newsletter

The second victim was attacked by Pollard and Teague in the early hours of April 11. It began with Teague asking for money and trying to pick pocket him and then turned violent.

The man, who had been working in a bar and stayed for a few drinks, was heading to get a taxi on Westgate Road when he was grabbed from behind. Mr Graham said: "The next thing he knew was a shower of fists raining down on his face.

"Both defendants were on top of him. He fought them off and got back up but realised one of them had taken his wallet and ran after them to try to get it back."

He was attacked again, with Pollard punching and kicking him. Mr Graham added: "He said the attack came from all sides.

"He curled up in a ball to protect himself. He didn't know if he had lost consciousness."

CCTV showed Teague stealing items from the victim's pocket as he lay motionless on the ground. They ran off and the man followed them but Pollard punched him several times to the head. Pollard then picked up his can of lager and walked off.

The victim, who went into shock, attended the RVI and was found to have suffered a broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder, as well as swelling and lumps to his head and bruised ribs.

His bank card was fraudulently used shortly after the attack and his driving licence was also in his stolen wallet and his headphones were damaged.

He said in a victim impact statement the attack had worsened his mental health and his has had flashbacks about being punched and kicked. He said he was also in a lot of pain, had to take time off work and was scared the attackers would recognise him and approach him again.

Pollard, 35, of Trinity Street, North Shields, who has eight previous convictions for offences including wounding with intent, robbery, attempted robbery and attempted wounding with intent, pleaded guilty to two robberies and fraud and was jailed for 91 months.

Smith, 30, of Graingerville North, Newcastle, who has 112 previous convictions, including attempted robbery, admitted robbery and was jailed for 40 months. Teague, 41, of Penman Place, North Shields, who has 96 previous convictions, including robbery, stealing an elderly man's mobility scooter and stealing from an elderly man with learning difficulties, admitted robbery and was jailed for 40 months.

Jonathan Crawford, for Pollard, said he has ADHD and was using drugs. Michael Cahill, for Smith, said he had "found himself homeless on the streets again and back into criminality". He added that he was ashamed.

Jonathan Pigford, for Teague, said she was homeless at the time and had initially been trying to pick the victim's pocket.