TWO Good Samaritans who offered some of their £9,000 casino winnings to help a Poole man who claimed he couldn't afford to travel home were rewarded with a punch in the head before being robbed of their cash.

Robert Marc Jones, 29, launched his vicious attack on the men at 5.30am on March 2 last year, as they walked along Bournemouth's Westover Road.

Jones, of Alexandra Road, had already won £150 himself when he tracked the men from the Genting Casino in Yelverton Road, where they had collected winnings of around £4,000 and £5,000.

A court heard that the defendant was seen on CCTV walking behind the men and peering over their shoulders while they left the premises.

Dorset Police said: "He then engaged them in conversation, claiming he had no money, despite having just collected £150 of winnings himself. He also claimed to be unable to get home due to the severe snow.

"The two victims offered to fund him a room at a nearby hotel before all three left the venue and walked in the direction of Westover Road.

"As they walked along Westover Road one of the men felt a blow to the right side of his jaw and saw the other victim had also been hit and was bleeding from the face."

In order to prevent a further assault, one of the men gave Jones £1,000 of the cash they had won. However, Jones demanded the rest.

Both victims suffered facial injuries as a result of the attack.

Jones was arrested just hours later at his home address and all of the stolen cash was recovered.

He admitted charges of assault with intent to commit robbery and assault by beating, in July last at Bournemouth Crown Court where his sentence was deferred to give him a chance to stay out of trouble, find work, attend counselling and seek support for his drug issues.

However, said Dorset Police: "During that period he was charged with offences of inflicting grievous bodily harm, affray and criminal damage in relation to an incident in Kent on November 4 2018."

He appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday and was sentenced to two years in prison for the Bournemouth offences and jailed for a further three years for the Kent crimes.

Detective Constable Chris Griffin, of Bournemouth CID, said: “Jones targeted his victims as he knew they were in possession of large sums of money and gained their trust before assaulting them with a view to stealing their cash.

“The defendant was given a chance to address his offending behaviour but during the period in which his sentence was deferred has again committed violent offences.

“I am pleased that we were able to swiftly identify Jones as the offender and recover the stolen cash and I hope this prison sentence demonstrates that violence of this nature will not be tolerated.”