A TEENAGE robber attacked a man out to “drown his sorrows” following the suicide of his son after tailing his victim through Boscombe.

Jordan Short was just 17 when he and an unknown accomplice targeted the victim and his wife at Sugar and Spice in Christchurch Road.

Prosecutor Stuart Ellacott told a judge at Bournemouth Crown Court that the couple were having a “bad day” after their son committed suicide in October 2015 and had visited the pub.

“The barman was Mr Short,” said Mr Ellacott.

“Upon [the victim] getting his wallet out, Mr Short commented, ‘You’ve got quite a bit in there, haven’t you.’ “He asked for a loan of £20.

“At the time, the victim had £3,000 in his wallet. It was money he and his wife had saved up over a considerable period as they were due to go away on holiday.”

During their conversation, the victim told Short he had been hit in the head with a baseball bat and had suffered a bleed on the brain on the left-hand side of his head.

The couple left the pub at around 6pm and went into the arcade. CCTV cameras captured Short and his friend looking into the windows at them.

“They were being watched and followed,” Mr Ellacott said.

The couple then left the arcade and were nearly home when the victim became aware of a “flash of something coming towards them” and was struck on the left side of his head.

“He was stunned and on the brink of unconsciousness,” the prosecutor said.

“He tried to get his phone out to call 999 but it was snatched from him and chucked on the ground.”

The victim was then punched repeatedly on the head before one of the men grabbed his wallet from a pocket.

However, the assailant dropped it and money fell out.

The offenders grabbed what they could - around £1,000 - and ran away, Mr Ellacott said.

The defendant, now 18, has previous convictions for robbery, dangerous driving and other offences.

Mitigating, Kevin Hill said: “Mr Short essentially says he went along with that [unknown] male.”

Short has taken part in painting and decorating courses and is engaging with education since his incarceration, Mr Hill said, adding that the defendant had a “difficult early start” in life.

Recorder Gordon Bebb QC sentenced the defendant to two-and-a-half years.