A VIOLENT thug who was part of a gang who carried out two robberies at a block of flats in Leeds has been jailed for three years and four months.
Liam Coleman was handed the sentence after a judge told him the attacks at Popular Court, Bramley, Leeds, were “sustained and concerted”.
Coleman, 25, was part of a group who beat the first victim unconscious in his own home.
The attack took place after Coleman and the other members of his group had been invited back there to drink alcohol.
The victim’s mobile phone and keys to the property were taken before the group left.
Coleman and other members of the gang then targeted another man 10 minutes later, on the evening of February 14 this year.The man was sat in his car outside the flats smoking a cigar shortly before the incident.
Coleman asked the man for a cigarette before he was attacked.
The keys to the vehicle were stolen and the man fled but members of the gang used the car to drive after him and continue the attack.
The victim had his finger bitten during the robbery and was left badly shaken.
That incident was caught on CCTV cameras at the flats and Coleman was identified by a police officer who saw the footage. Coleman, of Woodbridge Fold, Headingley pleaded guilty to two offences of robbery.
Marlon Grossman, mitigating, said Coleman had suffered a family bereavement at the time of the incident.
Jailing him, the Recorder of Leeds, judge Peter Collier QC, said it was no excuse for the level of violence used.
Det Con Phil Joyce, of North West Leeds Division’s Robbery Team, said: “These were two particularly violent alcohol-fuelled attacks which were carried out within minutes of each other.
“The level of violence used was completely unnecessary.
“These offences show Coleman is clearly a dangerous individual and I hope the fact he has received a lengthy prison sentence will provide some degree of comfort to his victims.”