A thug who tried to rob a man in the street while armed with a hammer has been jailed for three years and four months.

Ashley Love claimed he mistook his victim for a drug dealer who had taken his money, but prosecutor Ian Foinette said his story “made no sense”.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the victim was walking along an alleyway in Stanbrook Road, Gravesend, in the early afternoon of May 20 this year when he heard shouting.

He saw a man - Love - hit a garden wall with a hammer. He approached the victim, 21, and said: “Got any money. Give us your money.”

The victim replied he did not have any but Love, 26, went towards him holding the hammer over his shoulder, said Mr Foinette.

As the victim tried to get away his phone fell out of his pocket and Love said he would have it. He picked it up and chased the victim shouting: “Come here.”

“It seems he had begun to calm down,” said Mr Foinette. “He said: ‘Here, have your phone back.

"You approached a complete stranger who was minding his own business. Your behaviour was intolerable" - Judge Philip Statman, to Love

“The victim was disinclined to go anywhere near the defendant given what he had seen. He told him to put it on the ground.”

Love put it on top of a car and the victim retrieved it. Love told him: “I am only joking. I am mad. I am having an argument with my girlfriend.”

The victim walked off and flagged down a police car. When arrested, Love replied: “How can it be robbery if he has got his phone back?”

He said he had the hammer with him because he was on his way to fix his front door.

He was also going to “score some drugs”. He handed over £40, he said, and the dealer ran off with it. He claimed he saw the victim and thought he was the dealer.

Love was in 2007 sentenced to 22 months youth custody for his involvement in a robbery on a train. He also had previous convictions for burglary, assault and having an offensive weapon.

Mr Foinette said Love told his victim to get on his knees if he did not want to be stabbed with a screwdriver. He punched the victim until he lost consciousness. He was jailed for two years.

Love, of Ebbsfleet Walk, Northfleet, admitted attempted robbery and having an offensive weapon.

He was recalled to prison in June this year and his earliest release date was May next year.

Francis Lawson, defending, said despite Love’s record there were some positive things that could be said about him.

He was at the stage, she said, where he wanted to make significant changes. He had written a letter to the victim offering a wholehearted and genuine apology.

“He feels this term of imprisonment is positive for him,” said Miss Lawson. “He only started using heroin in January this year. He is now on a drug detox wing.”

Judge Philip Statman told Love: “You approached a complete stranger who was minding his own business. Your behaviour was intolerable.”

After sentencing, PC Hollie Brown said: "Love's offences are violent and destructive and their severity cannot be understated.

"I firmly believe that had he not received this sentence he would have continued to be a threat to the public and hope he thinks about the damage his actions cause to the victims while he is in prison."