IPSWICH: A teenager who held a knife to the throat of a 23-year-old man who was robbed as he made his way home after a night out has been warned that he faces a custodial sentence.

Adjourning sentence on 18-year-old Josh Mison for a report, Judge Peter Fenn said the report would help him decided how long any custodial sentence should be.

Mison, of Maude Street, Ipswich, had denied robbing Robert Garrard with others on August 9 last year and possessing a knife in a public place. A jury took less that two hours after a three-day trial to find him guilty of both offences.

During the trial, the court heard that Mr Garrard was walking home along Crane Hill, Ipswich, after a night out when he was approached by three youths wearing “hoodies” and asked by one of them for a cigarette.

As Mr Garrard was talking to the group, Mison had held a knife to his throat and he was told to empty his pockets. Mr Garrard did as he was told, but was then struck on the cheek by one of the group and then kicked and punched by all three.

The youths ran off with some loose change and his mobile phone and Mr Garrard was taken to hospital suffering from a fractured cheek, which needed surgery, and bruising and grazes to his face and body.

The court heard that several weeks after the incident Mr Garrard saw Mison at the local Job Centre and Mison had asked him if he had been robbed.

Mison denied being involved in the robbery and said that although he had been at the Job Centre he had not spoken to Mr Garrard.

The case was adjourned until the week commencing March 21.