TWO brothers have been jailed after robbing a man with learning difficulties.

Gavin Gary Gudgeon and Kelvin Alan Gudgeon were sentenced to 22 months each after admitting a charge of robbery.

The pair robbed the 20-year-old while he was shopping in Winton on Saturday, February 24, around 4.45pm.

The victim had apparently spoken to Gavin Gudgeon, 32, before as he had been approached by him for money on previous occasions.

The two men followed the victim and asked him for money but he insisted he did not have any.

They ended up in an alleyway near Mayfield Road, where Gavin Gudgeon said to the victim: “Hand over your phone and wallet or I will punch you in the face.”

The victim handed over the items and the two men walked away but returned soon after with Gavin Gudgeon demanding his PIN number for his phone.

The victim was fearful because of the threat that had been made previously so gave him the PIN number.

As they walked away from the scene a member of the public heard one of them saying: “That’s OK we’ve got his wallet now.”

She then heard the other man say: “We’ve got his phone and can just dump the SIM.”

The woman walked past the entrance to the alleyway and saw the victim, she asked if he was all right and when he told her what had happened she called the police.

Two police community support officers located the offenders nearby on Muscliff Road and as they approached saw Kelvin Gudgeon, 39, discard something under a parked car next to him.

Other units attended and the two men were arrested. The victim’s wallet was found on Gavin Gudgeon and the phone was recovered from the ground where Kelvin Gudgeon had thrown it.

Detective Constable Mark Richardson, of Bournemouth CID, said: “Gavin and Kelvin Gudgeon targeted a vulnerable victim and used threats to steal personal items from him.

“We are grateful to the woman who came to the aid of the victim and reported it to police, which enabled officers to be on the scene quickly so the Gudgeon brothers were arrested shortly after the incident and the victim’s property was recovered.

“I hope the sentences imposed serve as a warning that those who commit offences of this nature will be dealt with firmly by the courts.”