A MAN who helped shield two other men while they robbed a woman was jailed for two years.

Mohammed, 19, of Spring Street, Bury, appeared at Bolton Crown Court for sentence for robbery of a woman on Lord Street, Bury, last year.

Prosecutor Duncan Preston said the woman was walking along Lord Street in Bury when she was surrounded by a group of young men. She was punched in the face and her handbag was snatched by two men while Mohammed, with others, surrounded the woman so that no one could see what was happening.

The woman was not seriously injured but her handbag was stolen.

The court heard that Mohammed was in with a bad group of young men and was easily led by peer pressure into crime. Though he knew the identity of the two robbers he had not disclosed their names to police for fear of reprisals.

Mohammed worked full-time as a radio operator for Peel Cars and received a good reference from his employer and others who knew him.

Judge Gillian Ruaux said she had taken into account his age, his record and the fact that he did not use violence against the victim.

She said he had shielded the robbers from other people so that they might escape and that he had stood by and watched while violence had been used.

But she added that he had three previous convictions for violence and two for dishonesty and the offence was so serious as to justify a custodial sentence.