A DRUG user who robbed a vulnerable man at a cash machine has been jailed.

A DRUG user who robbed a vulnerable man at a cash machine has been jailed.

Ben Fehily, 27, approached the man who is in his fifties and has learning difficulties at the ATM machine outside the Morrison supermarket in Ipswich and grabbed £30 he had already withdrawn.

He had then demanded that the man reinsert the card and withdraw as much money as he could. The victim refused and Fehily ran off, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Fehily, of Adair Road, Ipswich admitted robbery and was jailed for 27 months less 109 days he has already spent in custody.

Sentencing Fehily Recorder K Walden-Smith described the robbery as a “cowardly” crime motivated by his need for money to fund his drug habit.

David Hoffman, prosecuting, said in 2003 Fehily had been jailed by a London court for eight years, which was later reduced on appeal to six and a half years, for robbing an 84-year-old woman of her pension. The woman had broken her hip during the attack.

Adam Wiseman for Fehily said his client would not have been aware from the physical appearance of the victim of the robbery outside the supermarket that he had learning difficulties and was therefore vulnerable.

He said Fehily had kept out of trouble for the last six years and had been working for a recruitment agency.