Wakefield drug addict attacked man to steal £30

Lucas Anderton was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court after pleading guilty to robbery.

Anderton, 30, knew the victim and confronted him after the man withdrew £30 from a Nisa Local cash point on Windhill Road, Eastmoor.

Prosecutor Zanisha Herbert said Anderton demanded the money and when he was refused punched the victim in the face. Once the man was on the ground, the court heard how Anderton “kicked and stamped” on his head and then attacked him again as he tried to run away.

Anderton, who took the cash and fled, was arrested by police later that same day.

In a victim impact statement, the court heard the the victim escaped without serious injury but was left “sore and badly shaken” by the incident.

Defence counsel Craig Sutcliffe said his client had become addicted to class A drugs after suffering a serious brain injury during an accident in 2020.

He said Anderton, of no fixed abode, was concerned for his two dogs while he is in custody and has not found his time in custody easy.

Judge Richard Mansell rejected defence claims that the defendant’s mental disability had contributed to the attack. “It was solely to do with your craving for drugs,” he told Anderton as he sentenced him to four years in prison.

“I find your comments to the probation officer that you felt proud of yourself for beating him up and that you would do it again particularly disturbing,” Judge Mansell added.

“They demonstrate to me that you clearly have no victim empathy whatsoever.”