A BRAZILIAN teenager who had left her home country for the first time ever to study in the North-East was robbed almost as soon as she set foot in the region.

The woman was approached by Leslie Anne Ward and Vicky Louise Osborne after getting out of a taxi in Middlesbrough, late on August 7. Durham Crown Court heard that on the pretext they were trying to help the vulnerable young woman, they robbed her of possessions and money.

The under-graduate, the daughter of a Brazilian policeman, had left her home country for the first time in her life to fly to the UK to start a course at Teesside University.

Sam Faulks, prosecuting, said she caught a taxi at Middlesbrough Railway Station and was dropped near the university campus. “She didn’t know where she was and, clearly, being in a foreign country for the first time, was quite frightened.”

The defendants approached, appearing to, “show an interest in her,” in King Edward Square.

Ward pulled the student towards her, pressed something hard into her side, and told her: “Just be quiet, I just want your money.” They went through her pockets and back-pack, taking £50, her phone and lap-top computer. A security guard monitoring CCTV came to her aid and, from the footage police recognised her assailants.

Ward, 40, of Napier Street, Middlesbrough, denied robbery, but was convicted by a jury after a trial in her absence, as she would not leave her prison cell.

Osborne, 39, of Enfield Street, Middlesbrough, admitted robbery prior to trial.

Ward was also convicted of a house burglary, purse theft and six counts of fraud, over use of stolen bank cards.

Robin Denny, mitigating, said she had, “a significant record” but could not recall some of her previous offending, while Alexander Bousfield, for Osborne, said she was not the main player in the robbery, for which she has “genuine remorse”.

Judge Simon Hickey jailed Ward for nine years and Osborne for three years and three months.