Couple given suspended sentences for attempted robbery in Ipswich where man was knocked to the ground
Ipswich Crown Court - Credit: Archant
An Ipswich couple who tried to rob a man as he waited to cross a town-centre road have walked free from court after a judge decided to give them suspended prison sentences.
Benjamin Douglas, 27, and Sharlene Gemmell, 34, both of Palmerston Road, Ipswich, had denied attempting to rob Brian Crouch on June 17 last year but were convicted after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court earlier this year.
Sentence was adjourned until yesterday (Thursday) for pre-sentence reports to be prepared on them.
Sentencing them each to a two year prison sentence suspended for two years Recorder Jonathan Ashley-Norman said: “You both should have known better but didn’t because of the alcohol you were consuming.”
He said Mr Crouch had been knocked to the ground during the attempted robbery.
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They were also each ordered to take part in a 35 day rehabilitation activity requirement.
Gemmell was also ordered to take part in a nine month alcohol treatment programme and was warned that if she threw away the opportunity she had been given she could be resentenced.
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Douglas, who has been in custody since January, was also given a criminal behaviour order for two years banning him from drinking alcohol in public.
During the trial the court heard that Mr Crouch, who was pushing a bike, was waiting at a pedestrian crossing when the defendants approached him and Douglas hit him in the face.
