ON MONDAY morning when his jury trial was due to begin at Truro Crown Court, 27-year-old Darren Philp of Bude admitted having, with another, robbed a youth of four bottles of lager.

Judge Christopher Elwen imposed a 36 week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered Philp, of Kings Hill, Bude, to do 90 hours of unpaid work for the community and pay £250 costs within six months.

Describing it as a street robbery, the judge accepted that another man had been responsible for mugging the victim. Philp, he said, had a history of offences at night due to his drink and drugs problems.

Prosecutor Philip Lee said that the youth and friends had bought a box of 20 cans of lager on February 29 last and, after drinking most, hid four cans in bushes before going to a nightclub. After retrieving the drink they met Philp and his colleague who demanded they hand it over. The youth refused until the other man punched him in the face, damaging two of his teeth.

Defending Philp, who has previous convictions, Iain Leadbetter said he had decided to move to Eastbourne to live.