An innocent dad-of-two was hit with a baseball bat and attacked as he lay on the ground after two drunken robbers spotted him trying to report a crashed and abandoned car to the police.

The victim had been walking with his wife and two children in the Hazelhurst Terrace area of Bradford back in January 2019 when he spotted the damaged Vauxhall Astra.

As his family walked on the complainant tried to contact the police by phone to report the vehicle, but Bradford Crown Court heard that Tauqir Saeed and Zain Hussain arrived on the scene in another car and began shouting at him.

Saeed got into the Astra and reversed it while Hussain followed their victim as he walked away.

Prosecutor Andrea Parnham said Saeed then came back armed with a silver aluminium baseball bat and hit the complainant several times.

After the man fell to the ground the pair attacked him with kicks and punches before running off.

While their victim was seeking help from a passing taxi driver the defendants returned and after demanding their keys back one of them rifled through his pockets and took two mobile phones.

Police officers were able to arrest the men soon after the attack and the court heard that the complainant suffered injuries including a cut above his left eye and bruising to his arms.

Saeed, of Hazelhurst Brow, Bradford, was jailed for three years and Hussain, of Pearson Lane, Bradford, was locked up for 30 months after they both pleaded guilty to the robbery charge.

The court heard that the two defendants had met at a time when they were both drinking heavily.

Hussain’s barrister said his client was drinking about a litre of alcohol a day at the time and Saeed’s lawyer said he was “drunk off his head”.

Barrister John Batchelor, for Saeed, said he was now truly sorry for the victim who had done nothing wrong.

He said the robbery had happened 22 months ago and his client now had to pay the price for what happened in those few cowardly moments.

Judge Richard Mansell QC said the victim had been “outnumbered and defenceless” and the attack had had a serious effect on him and his family.