A BLACKBURN man at the wheel when others beat a young robbery victim black and blue in the back seat of a moving car had his bid to cut his sentence dismissed in London's Appeal Court.

Lee Suddick, 21, was jailed for two years at Preston Crown Court in May this year after pleading guilty to handling stolen goods in the shape of £20 taken from the victim's wallet.

John Slater was brutally attacked by two men in the car as Suddick, of Fawcett Close, Blackburn, drove through Preston on October 23 last year. The two men were on either side of Mr Slater in the back of the car when they staged the surprise attack, raining down punches and putting him in a vicious head-lock.

Dismissing Suddick's appeal, Mr Justice Royce said it was accepted he had taken no part in the actual robbery or the attack, but he was later found in possession of £20 -- "his part of the takings".