A DRUG addict who took part in a terrifying attack on two teenagers as they enjoyed an evening out in Bradford has been jailed for four years.

The 17-year-old victims had visited the Leisure Exchange last July and had then headed off to buy some food in the Thornton Road area, but they were approached by 39-year-old Andrew Murgatroyd and his unknown accomplice.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday how Murgatroyd asked for the time, but after the male complainant had checked the time on an iPhone a punch was thrown at him which missed.

Prosecutor Jayne Beckett described how Murgatroyd’s accomplice then hit the teenager in the back with a rounders-type bat before the defendant grabbed the complainant in a headlock.

The victim was thrown to the ground and Murgatroyd sat on him before asking for the bat. Mrs Beckett said Murgatroyd held the bat to the victim’s throat and demanded the two iPhones he had on him.

While the second attacker kicked the teenager, Murgatroyd took the mobile phones from his pockets and handed them to his accomplice.

During the incident the second attacker also demanded money from the female complainant, but after they had taken the phones the two men ran off.

Mrs Beckett said the male followed the attackers and Murgatroyd was seen to go into a block of flats on Sunbridge Road where he was later found by police hiding in a toilet.

Murgatroyd, of Briarwood Crescent, Wibsey, Bradford, had been due to stand trial yesterday but, before a jury was sworn in, he pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and attempted robbery.

The court heard his extensive criminal record included a 1997 robbery and a six-year prison sentence in 2008 for grievous bodily harm with intent.

Mrs Beckett said the two complainants in the robbery had both felt worried about going into the city centre after the attack, but they now felt as though they had recovered.

Barrister James Bourne-Arton, for Murgatroyd, revealed that his client had been using drugs since he was 15, but had been drug-free following his prison sentence in 2008 before falling back into his old lifestyle when had to return to Bradford from Halifax. He was on a drug-free wing at Armley Prison.

Judge Jonathan Rose told Murgatroyd: “Both of you were willing to use violence in order to steal to fund your drug habit.”

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