A man who stood by as a friend robbed a 16-year-old girl of her handbag was jailed for two years.

Kevin Banks, 24, of Leiden Road, Wood Farm, Oxford, pleaded guilty to robbery but he said he did not help his friend commit the offence.

Amanda Millmore, prosecuting, told Oxford Crown Court yesterday that the girl was walking home with a friend in Banbury Road, Oxford, at 1.40am on August 20 when two men approached and tried to strike up a convers- ation.

One grabbed her bag and pulled it so hard she was forced to let go. it contained a wallet with £15-£20 cash, keys with her address, pager, umbrella and photograph.

Mrs Millmore said Banks was arrested later after police stopped four people acting suspiciously in a white Maestro.

Jamie Porter, defending, said Banks had made a concerted effort to rid himself of various drugs he was taking and was "essentially a man whose offending arose out of his drug taking".