TWO teenagers have been warned to expect long custodial sentences after they were convicted of robbing two men in York in separate attacks on the same night.

Judge Robert Bartfield lifted reporting restrictions on Thursday at York Crown Court sitting in Leeds so that Toby Carter and Kenny Carl Thomas, both 17, can be named after they were each found guilty.

He said there should be publicity: “The behaviour of these two is so outrageous it needs to be known by the wider public.”

Carter of Boltby Road, York and Thomas of Crombie Avenue, Clifton, York, were unanimously convicted of the robberies of John Card, who has cerebral palsy and Mark Bonner in the early hours of July 18 last year.

A third man Joseph Edeson, of Burton Green, Clifton, York has already admitted both robberies.

Sentence was adjourned until next month but remanding the teenagers in custody until then Judge Bartfield warned them: “You have been convicted of what I regard as very serious offences of robbery, you can both expect very long prison sentences.”

The jury of six men and six women heard during the trial that Mr Card, 27, was left with a fracture around his eye socket as well as other cuts and bruises after he was attacked in Bootham.

He had been out drinking in the city centre and had lost contact with his brother. He said he was distracted after phoning him and was looking down when he saw three people approaching.

One of them suddenly jumped in front of him and “smacked me” to the side of his face. He said he tried to get away and there was a scuffle before he was spun round and punched three or four times.

He went down to the ground hitting his head on a bollard as he did so and was lying bleeding in the street when his wallet was stolen.

He told the court his condition means his left leg is slightly shorter than his right affecting his balance, and his left arm does not straighten properly.

The jury heard some of the contents from his wallet were later found scattered down Marygate where the trio went after leaving him.

They were then walking along the riverside when they met their second victim Mr Bonner.

He too had been on a night out and said he felt anxious when he saw the three approaching him. One of them hit him in the face and there were further punches which left him unconscious.

Laura Addy prosecuting said Mr Bonner did not know how long he blacked out for but when he came round with cuts and bruises he found his wallet and phone gone.

The jury heard when the trio were spotted a short time later near McDonalds Thomas was found to have Mr Card’s wallet and Mr Bonner’s phone in the back pack he was carrying.

Thomas claimed in evidence rejected by the jury that it was Edeson who committed the robberies alone and he had only continued walking with him because he did not want the same to happen to him.

Carter maintained in evidence he and Thomas had struck Mr Card but said he had walked away and was not responsible for stealing from him. He also admitted “backhanding” Mr Bonner as he walked past but denied robbing him.