A “petulant” robber destroyed a police computer while being interrogated after he was arrested while spending stolen cash in McDonald’s.

Daniel Barker targeted his limping and vulnerable victim in Canterbury after hearing coins jangle inside his pocket.

After subjecting the man with cerebral palsy to a violent street robbery, police traced the 42-year-old to a nearby McDonald’s.

Following his arrest Barker smashed up the police laptop when detectives showed him CCTV footage of his actions in Station Road East.

Barker, of the Canterbury area, was handed 21 months custody at Canterbury Crown Court.

Judge Simon James branded the criminal damage a “petulant act” and the robbery “a nasty incident of gratuitous street violence”.

The court heard Barker drew up to his victim in darkness, at 6.30pm in January last year, as he walked alone home from work.

“The defendant demanded some change when he heard it, some coins in his pocket,” prosecutor Philip Allman said.

“The defendant physically forced him to the floor and duly took money, he was standing over him and was threatening to hit him.”

Barker made off with £55 however, officers soon traced him to McDonald’s in St George’s Street and recovered £63 from his home.

The thief would claim he made the money while begging however, when police revealed CCTV footage of the robbery Baker became aggressive.

“He got up, picked up the police laptop and threw it and broke it as a result,” Mr Allman said.

Barker’s victim, who was present in court, said: “I feel unable to walk home alone after dark, I have to get someone to give me a lift which takes away my independence.”

“This incident has made me feel frightened and scared to go out after dark.”

The court heard Barker committed a robbery in 1999 after becoming homeless.

But Charlotte Oliver, mitigating, said Barker was now “drug free” following his time on remand and is focussed on getting housed.

“There is a gap in his previous offending when he had a home,” she said.

Barker, of no fixed abode, will soon be released after having served sufficient time on remand.