TWO men befriended women in a bar before robbing them of their handbags, a court heard.

Daniel Gaffney elbowed Tessa Beck in the throat, forcing her to fall to the ground and hit her head on the concrete, trial jurors at Bournemouth Crown Court were told.

Stephen Eaton wrestled her friend Carla Gosling’s handbag from her before the men fled from the crime scene outside the Buffalo Bar in Winton, the court heard.

Gaffney, 23, of Millfield, Poole denies robbing Miss Beck and Eaton, 19, of Barnes Road, Bournemouth denies robbing Miss Gosling in the early hours of December 29, 2011.

Prosecuting, Eileen Sproson told a jury of six men and six women that the alleged robbers and their victims had met in a smoking area at the Buffalo Bar and had been talking for more than two hours before they decided to get a taxi and go to another nightclub together.

She said the robberies took place outside the bar and that the handbags contained phones, cash, make-up and cigarettes.

When Gaffney was arrested later that morning he was in possession of a packet of 10 Richmond Menthol Superking cigarettes, Miss Beck said she had two packets of 10 in her bag when it was taken from her.

She told the court: “He elbowed me in the throat and knocked me to the floor – I banged my head.

“I came back up and my bag had gone.

“I could see Carla and Stephen Eaton fighting for Carla’s handbag.”

The trial continues.