Two thugs have been jailed after a man was mugged in the street at knifepoint for his mobile phone.

James Clark and Jonathan Wolsey pulled up on mopeds as victim Anthony Stanley was walking along a Medway street.

Clark, 27, pulled out a knife and assaulted Mr Stanley and 35-year-old Wolsey took his iPhone.

Clark, of Luton Road, Chatham, was on Monday jailed for three years and four months and Wolsey, of Edinburgh Road, Chatham, for two years and eight months.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the victim was confronted as he walked from Chatham railway station on June 13 because he owed Clark money.

A judge was shown CCTV footage of the pair arriving on mopeds. As Clark approached, Mr Stanley repeatedly told him: “Touch me, I dare you.”

Clark, who lost the lower part of one of his legs in a motorcycle accident in November last year, claimed he fetched a knife from his moped because he believed the victim had a blade in the work tool belt he was wearing.

“The victim was terrified and the effect was not negligible..." Judge Charles Macdonald QC

“There is some violence against the victim,” said prosecutor Christopher Martin. “He was pinned against the wall. There are some punches thrown while he is crouched on one knee.

“Mr Wolsey joins in. He grabs his arm and prises his mobile phone out of his hand. They return to their mopeds. The victim is shouting he needs his phone so he can work.”

Mr Martin said the phone was dropped further up the road, smashing the screen and causing £150 worth of damage. Wolsey returned it to Mr Stanley.

Clark, who has 12 previous convictions for 20 offences, and Wolsey, who has 13 previous convictions for 22 offences, admitted robbery.

Ben Irwin, for Wolsey, said the father-of-six had never been involved in an offence of such seriousness.

“He takes his responsibility to society seriously,” said Mr Irwin. “He doesn’t normally behave like this. It wasn’t his argument. He became drawn into it.

“He has sought to go back to living a normal life. He acted stupidly and perhaps naively.”

Adrian Rohard, for Clark, said the only reason his client took out the knife was because he mistakenly thought Mr Stanley had one.

He added the father-of-two was sorry and regretted “taking the momentary decision to react in the way he did”.

Passing sentence, Judge Charles Macdonald QC said: “The victim was terrified and the effect was not negligible. The offence is aggravated by previous offending.”