Thug attacked man in city centre and said: 'We're going to a cashpoint'

A THUG approached a young couple in the city centre, punched the man and then frogmarched him to a cashpoint in an attempt to rob them both.

- By MARTIN NAYLOR [e-mail]

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Thomas Pickering left the woman “terrified” he might pull a knife out of his pocket during the ordeal, which took place at 4.30am.

The man he punched required hospital treatment and told how he now “feels always on guard”.

And midway through his sentencing hearing, the 26-year-old defendant sat down and told the judge who jailed him: “I don’t give a f***”

Sending him to prison for three years, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said: “You decided, in the dead of night, to stalk somebody in the street, assault one of them for no good reason other than to rob them and demand money from them.

“That man was just walking home after finishing work and his partner, who was with him, was terrified by what you did.