A man carried out a vicious street robbery, stealing £60 and a mobile phone, and then just three hours later sexually assaulted a young woman who was on a night out, a court heard yesterday.

A man carried out a vicious street robbery, stealing £60 and a mobile phone, and then just three hours later sexually assaulted a young woman who was on a night out, a court heard yesterday.

Giedrus Soblinkas, 22, attacked and robbed Peter Harrison as he walked along Albion Road, in Yarmouth, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Christopher Morgans, prosecuting, said Mr Harrison heard a “roaring noise” and saw someone rushing up to him.

The next thing he remembered was waking up in an ambulance with facial injuries and a cut to his head.

Mr Harrison lost a tooth in the attack and needed stitches to his head as well as having swollen eyes and bruising.

He also had £60 in cash taken and his mobile phone stolen.

Later that evening Soblinkas was with a group of men when he approached a young woman and started to touch her sexually despite her protests.

Mr Morgans said that in the end a taxi driver came to her aid, police were called and Soblinkas was arrested.

Soblinkas, of Marine Parade, Yarmouth, admitted robbery on April 21 this year and sexual assault on a female.

Jailing him for four years and placing him on the sex offenders register for 10 years, Judge Paul Downes told Soblinkas that he had earlier stated that in his country it was not an offence to treat females in this way.

He told him: “I don't know if it's the case or not but what you should understand is in this country women are protected from this sort of behaviour.”

He said the street robbery had been an unpleasant attack.

“It's something that the courts take a dim view of and it almost always is met with a sentence of imprisonment.”

Andrew Oliver, mitigating, said Soblinkas was not alone in carrying out the street robbery but said another man involved had gone back to Lithuania rather than face the consequences.

He said that he had been drinking heavily that night and said of the sex assault: “In his country incidents of this nature are not dealt with by the authorities.”

However, he added: “He (Soblinkas) understands he has to abide by the law of this country.”

He said that since being held on remand Soblinkas had put his time to good use and was doing studies.