TWO college students were seized in a headlock and robbed while waiting for a taxi in Bradford city centre, a jury has been told.

The pair were sitting on a bench near the Alhambra Theatre when they were mugged by two men at 3.30am on May 18 last year, it is alleged.

Benjamin Hanslip, 30, of Cliffe Terrace, Baildon, and Christopher Rhodes, 21, of Ivy Bank Court, Baildon, each deny three charges of robbery.

They are accused of taking a rucksack containing school books and a wallet, a £10 note and phone from the students.

Prosecution barrister, Angus MacDonald, told Bradford Crown Court yesterday the students had been out for the night in Bradford city centre when the defendants approached and asked for cigarettes.

When the students said they were not smokers, the two men became aggressive, the court heard.

It is alleged that Rhodes seized one student in a headlock and they went to the ground, while Hanslip held back his friend.

The students shouted: "Help we're being mugged" and two strangers ran over to help.

The court heard that the defendants were injured when they were attacked by the men that intervened.

Hanslip was left lying unconscious in the road and Rhodes was apprehended close by after fleeing the scene.

Mr MacDonald said that a £10 note was found in Hanslip's boot after his arrest.

Rhodes told the police he was set upon for no reason. He then admitted taking one of the students in a headlock when drunk.

Hanslip said he was attacked from behind and the £10 found in his boot was his.

Mr MacDonald told the jury it was the Crown's case that the defendants acted jointly to rob the students of the rucksack, £10 note and phone.

Speaking from behind a screen, one of the students said he was drunk and tired that night after an evening out with school friends.

He and his friend were sitting on a bench waiting for a taxi when two men demanded cigarettes and grabbed both of them in a headlock.

He alleged that one of the men was shouting: "Don't struggle. Give us your phone. Give us your money."

Stephen Grattage, barrister for Rhodes, conceded that his client had seized one of the students in a headlock.

He suggested Rhodes was "simply rolling round on the floor like a drunken lout" with no intention to rob anyone.

Mr Grattage said both defendants were set upon and brutally assaulted by two bystanders.

Hanslip was knocked unconscious and Rhodes kicked in the head many times.

The trial continues.