A FORMER soldier was yesterday jailed for two years for his part in a late-night gang attack on a man on his way home from a nightclub.

Richard Doe acted as a lookout while two other men kicked their victim unconscious and stole his wallet, cash cards and mobile phone.

The gang got the PIN for the bank cards, but returned to where they had left their victim and continued their attack when the PIN did not work.

After the victim was forced to give the correct details for his cards, more than £400 was withdrawn from two of his accounts.

Roe, who was based at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, at the time of the robbery, was arrested after police trawled through CCTV of the area.

Footage of Northallerton town centre showed part of the attack, which happened in an alleyway in the early hours of February 8, 2009.

Doe was identified because of his distinct appearance – he is 6ft 5in and very thin – while another of the three attackers was recognised by police.

The other man, Kai Griffiths, of Valley Road, Northallerton, was jailed for nine years last May for robbery, and a series of sex crimes.

Doe, now discharged from the Army and living in Grasmere Drive, Weston-Super- Mare, admitted robbery.

His barrister, Jonathan Walker, told Teesside Crown Court: “He wishes to express a genuine apology to the complainant in this case.

“It is an ugly spectacle. It is protracted, it is violent and there is repetition, but this was an unplanned, opportunistic offence.

“It was more the making of a more criminally-sophisticated man who was sentenced for a heady mixture of sexual offences and violence. This defendant got wrapped up in a drunken state with an individual way beyond his capacity, he played a peripheral role.”

The court heard that nine separate attempts were made to withdraw £1,250 from the accounts within hours of the attack. Sarah Mallett, prosecuting, said most of the card activity was in Northallerton, but it was also used once at the barracks.

The third man – involved with Griffiths in squirting shaving foam over the victim as well as the beating – has never been identified or traced.