A ROBBER who beat a man up as a distraction while his accomplice stole £11,000 from his victim’s wife has been jailed.

Marcel Guzman Robinson, 20, of Holland Park, London, pleaded guilty at Oxford Crown Court to a robbery in Park End Street, Oxford, on March 26 this year.

The Chilean national worked with 53-year-old Argentinan Pedro Figueroa to target a couple they saw withdrawing £11,000 in cash from a bank in Cornmarket Street, Oxford. Prosecutor Jonathan Stone said Lithuanian couple Ricardas Burinskis and Vilma Burinskiene had been saving the money to try to buy a house in their home country.

He told Judge Peter Ross they carried it in a rucksack as they walked towards Oxford Railway Station, followed by Guzman Robinson and Figueroa.

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The barrister said when they were near the Said Business School the younger defendant assaulted Mr Burinskis, punching him in the face and kicking him when he fell to the ground.

Judge Ross told Guzman Robinson yesterday that he must have done this to provide a distraction, as well as in an attempt to incapacitate Mr Burinskis.

Mr Stone said Figueroa then grabbed the rucksack containing the money and ran a short distance away, where he paused, and his victim was able to snatch the bag back. Passer-by Christopher Cox then wrestled the older robber to the ground, for which Judge Ross said he should be commended and given a £400 reward.

Lucy Ffrench, defending Guzman Robinson, said her client had been struggling financially and acted impulsively.

Judge Ross sentenced Guzman Robinson to 40 months in prison and told him to pay a £120 victims’ surcharge.


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