Immigrant jailed for street robbery

A Slovakian immigrant who robbed a man in a Wolverhampton street after seeing him with a wad of cash in a pub has been jailed for four years.

Jan Horvath, aged 31, was given an official caution for shoplifting six days before pouncing on Gavin Goucher with an accomplice as he walked home in the early hours, the city's crown court was told. A passing police patrol car saw the victim being beaten on Tettenhall Road and being searched by the two attackers. Prosecutor Kanwal Juss outlined the case.

She said: "He was lying on the pavement being punched on the head and upper body by the men who appeared to be going through his pockets and removing property."

The robbers were chased from the scene by police officers, who caught Horvath with a £5 note and keys belonging to Mr Goucher, the court heard yesterday.

The other man escaped, leaving a £40 trail of notes and coins following the attack at 1.45am on July 26.

Mr Goucher, who suffered a head injury during the beating, told of his devastation in a statement read to the court by Miss Juss.

He said: "I do not know exactly how much money I had on me at the time but the attack has left me a little wary.

"There is no way that I would walk home from the pub again. It has knocked my confidence. I burst into tears the other day which had never happened before."

Mr Simon Williams, defending, said Horvath was under the influence of heroin and crack cocaine at the time.

Immigration officials do not know how long the Slovakian has been in the UK because his homeland is a member of the European Union, the court heard.

Horvath from Strode Road, Blakenhall, admitted robbery. Jailing him, Recorder Nigel Baker QC told Horvath: "You and your accomplice targeted the victim after earlier seeing him produce a wad of money in a pub."