Three men and two women beat up a vulnerable 66-year-old man in a Bromsgrove flat before one of them robbed him of £10, a court has been told.

Victim Mark Edwards, who has learning difficulties, went to the flat of 40-year-old Glynn Kendall in Austin Road, Bromsgrove, at about 4pm on March 29 this year, Worcester Crown Court heard. Kendall was there with his girlfriend, Kathleen Taylor, aged 30, also of Austin Road, and 18-year-old Albert Biddle arrived later with his girlfriend, 20-year-old mother-of-two Lara Shaw, both of Villiers Road, Bromsgrove, Daniel O'Donoghue, prosecuting, told a sentencing hearing.

Mr Edwards was sitting on a sofa and Biddle hit him around the head, calling him a "nonce" and accusing him falsely of messing with kids.

"He told Mr Edwards to kneel on the floor and pray to Jesus that he had not done those things," Mr O'Donoghue said. "He pulled his hat down over his face like a balaclava so he couldn't see and then, in Mr Edwards' own words, they took turns hitting him."

He was struck on the head and chest. Ashley Bradley, aged 20, of Austin Road, then arrived and was also told to hit Mr Edwards, who was already injured by this time. His nose was bleeding and he was made to go and clean up his own blood at the bathroom sink.

Taylor then told him to get some money and at about 8pm she went with him to a cashpoint at the local Co-op but Mr Edwards was only able to draw out £10. Taylor took the money. Edwards escaped and ran home but had no-one to help him and he was afraid to call the police. The following day his community health nurse visited and saw his injuries, which included two black eyes and a bruised ear, and took him to hospital where he was detained overnight..

Taylor, Kendall, Bradley and Shaw admitted assault causing actual bodily harm. Biddle was found guilty of the charge after a trial and was remanded in custody to be sentenced later.

Recorder Douglas Readings said the twenty-minute beating was a nightmare for "this poor man."

"It's difficult to believe how anybody could do that." he said. "Here was a defenceless, harmless and vulnerable man, All of you joined in, some of you half-heartedly, with Biddle's encouragement. None of you had the courage to say 'no, it stops here, I'm not doing this'."

He gave Taylor six years in jail for the robbery with two years for assault to run concurrently and two years consecutively for two deception burglaries she had earlier been found guilty of after a trial.

He said the other sentences reflected the parts played in the assault.

Kendall, who also has learning difficulties, has spent time in custody on remand and he was set free with an 18-month community order including 30 rehabilitation days.

Shaw was given a 12 month sentence suspended for 12 months with supervision and 100 hours unpaid work. The judge said it was fortunate her relationship with Biddle, who was a "bully and a thug" was now at an end.

Bradley was given a 12 month sentence suspended for 12 months with 100 hours unpaid work.

Biddle was later sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court, to three years in a young offenders’ institution for the charge of Actual Bodily Harm, and six years for the charge of robbery. The two sentences will run concurrently.