Thugs jailed for 'vicious' attack

Aaron Conway of Parkside Avenue, Barnehurst and Thomas Knapp, of Witham Court, Bognor Regis both pleaded guilty to one count of robbery on May 15 this year.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard that Home Office computer engineer David Couch, 50, was attacked after he dozed and missed his stop.

All he could remember was being woken up by a flurry of blows that were so hard his head repeatedly bounced off the window.

Apart from a fellow commuter who phoned police on his mobile phone, none of the other passengers did anything to help him throughout the relentless four-minute assault. Eventually, their helpless blood-spattered victim lost consciousness.

Conway and Knapp, both 22, then lost little time emptying his pockets and stealing everything they could find '“ car and house keys, cash, wallet and mobile phone. They also took his rucksack.

As they did so one was heard to say somewhat inexplicably: 'This is what happens when you owe us money.'

Minutes later the 23.39 Charring Cross service pulled into Belvedere.

The two robbers, who both have previous convictions for violence, then fled to another platform and caught a train heading back into London just before police arrived.

Mr Crouch's next recollection was standing in the station with blood pouring down his face.

His attackers, branded cowards by police, were identified from CCTV footage and arrested several days later.

Passing sentence, Judge Anthony Pitts said witness accounts left no doubt they had been on the lookout for a suitable victim, studying each of the train passengers before targeting Mr Crouch, possibly because he was asleep.

'You launched an utterly unprovoked and vicious attack on your victim. You decided to steal money and if that meant robbing a defenceless, middle-aged man and subjecting him to serious violence then that was just too bad.'

Outside court Mr Crouch, from Greenwich, south east London, who had been out for a few drinks that evening, said he would never have been attacked had he not fallen asleep and missed his stop at Dartford.

'This attack left me with nerve damage in my cheek, although the doctors say I will eventually recover. I still had to have four to five weeks off work and make five or six visits to the hospital.'

He added: 'Although I'm not nervous about getting on trains, I am more conscious of what is going on around me, groups of youths, things like that.'