A taxi driver flagged down by a customer was shocked to see the thug who had robbed him seven months earlier, a court heard.

Sarvjit Singh Dale had £110 stolen from him in December 2007 by two men he had collected from Gillingham railway station in December 2007.

Both men fled and the crime went unsolved. However, the past caught up with Mark Edwards when he tried to flag down Mr Dale in Canterbury Street, Gillingham, in July last year.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the taxi driver immediately recognised him and alerted the police.

Edwards, of Tupman Close, Rochester, was arrested and initially protested his innocence. He pleaded guilty, however, on what should have been the first day of his trial on Friday.

The 29-year-old was jailed for three-and-a-half years and will serve half his sentence, less 188 days already spent behind bars on remand.

The court heard he has previous convictions for robbery, attempted robbery and wounding.

Simon Wickens, defending, said Edwards had a difficult childhood and was abandoned at a police station by his mother when he was 15.

At the time of the robbery he was not working, had little money and was depressed following the break-up with his girlfriend who told him he was not the father to their child as he believed.

Shortly before his arrest Edwards had helped run a youth centre charity stall at the Dickens Festival and enrolled on a sports and leisure course.

"He does have a positive frame of mind," said Mr Wickens. "He feels at 29 he now needs to grow up and move on."