A HOMELESS Ipswich man who robbed two groups of teenagers in Christchurch Park has been jailed for four years.

A HOMELESS Ipswich man who robbed two groups of teenagers in Christchurch Park has been jailed for four years.

On the first occasion in June, 28-year-old Peter Green led the group to believe he had a knife in his pocket before producing a carrier bag and ordering them to hand over their mobile phones and money, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

One of the youngsters was so frightened he had problems breathing and feared he was going to have an asthma attack, said Ros Jones, prosecuting.

On another occasion Green was walking through Christchurch Park and approached a group of teenagers because he thought they were making fun of him.

He threatened to mug and knock out the youngsters if they didn't hand over money and their mobile phones. This time he left after the teenagers handed over sums of money ranging from �1.50 to �20, said Miss Jones.

Green, of no fixed address, admitted seven offences of robbery, two of attempted robbery, four offences of making false representations for gain and one offence of theft.

Jailing him for a total of four years recorder Mark Lucraft said the robberies would have been very frightening for the youngsters.

Miss Jones said the other offences related to a former work colleague of Green who agreed to let him stay at his flat after hearing that he was homeless.

While the man was at work Green contacted him and told him his flat had been burgled.

When the flat owner returned he found a games console and some loose change in a bottle had been stolen. He later discovered that some cheques had been taken from his cheque book and two of them had been cashed for a total value of �120.

It was later unearthed that the cheques had been made out to Green, said Miss Jones.

Roger Thomson, for Green, described the robberies in Christchurch Park as “particularly nasty offences”.

However he said that Green had not used any violence and had not produced a weapon.

He said his client felt genuine remorse for scaring the young people and had felt disgusted with himself after reading their witness statements in which they described the impact the offences had had on them.