A TEENAGER has been locked up after robbing and attacking two men in Hucknall.

Nicky Deverill was dubbed a "drunken lout" and given a three-year prison sentence after admitting being part of a group who robbed a man of his wallet and mobile phone at knifepoint on Christmas Eve.

Four months later, while on bail for the robbery, Deverill threw an empty beer can at a man before punching him in the face and knocking him unconscious.

Both were unprovoked attacks.

Sentencing Deverill, 19, at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Dudley Bennett said: "The reality of this case is yet again that the court is faced with a drunken or drug-affected lout participating in a group who are offering totally innocent people gratuitous violence."

The first attack happened at about 2.30am on Christmas Eve when a man was walking home after finishing his shift at Tesco in Hucknall.

He was approached by five youths and punched in the face.

He dropped a bottle of wine and started to walk off before the group ran at him again – one brandishing a knife and one swinging the broken bottle around and cutting his neck.

They demanded his wallet and threatened to "bury him" if he did not hand it over. He gave one of the group his mobile phone and another stole his wallet.

Deverill admitted being part of the group and said he was drinking heavily and taking cocaine at the time of the attack.

The group ran into Tesco five minutes later and Deverill was arrested after being identified on CCTV – he was the only one not wearing a hood.

In the second attack, on April 4, Deverill was with a group of four other youths and threw an empty beer can at a man sitting on a wall in Station Road, Hucknall. When the man got up and approached him he punched him in the face, knocking him to the floor.

The court heard Deverill started drinking heavily in December because of family problems.

Defending, Simon Eckersley said: "He realised four days after the incident that he needed help and unlike many he actually did something about it."

Mr Eckersley said Deverill also returned to check on the second man after the attack.

Deverill, of Claremont Avenue, Hucknall, was sentenced to two years in prison for the robbery and one year for the assault, to be served consecutively.

claire.carter@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk