Two thugs who preyed on Wolverhampton students for their mobile phones and money as they walked home from a pub were today starting jail sentences totalling 10 years.

Lithuanians Siavusas Jablonskis, pictured, aged 24, and 26-year-old Arturas Bagdonavicius left the two victims requiring hospital treatment after the brutal attack, which they hatched with the help of an unknown female accomplice.

The woman approached the duo in Merridale Road on February 10 this year and asked them for the time to distract them before the yobs then pounced and beat them up, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday.

Jablonskis, from Newhampton Road West, Whitmore Reans, pleaded guilty to two charges of robbery, while Bagdonavicius, of Wigan, was convicted of two charges of robbery at an earlier trial.

Mr Gerald Bermingham, for the prosecution, said the men targeted the innocent students as they walked home after an evening out in Wolverhampton.

“The female asked the men for the time before they were set about by Jablonskis and Bagdonavicius,” he told the court. “They beat both men and took their mobile phones and wallets.”

He added the friends were taken to New Cross Hospital for treatment for their injuries, with one requiring 14 stitches to a head wound.

Defending, Mr Trevor Meegan said Jablonskis, who has been in the country since 2004, pleaded guilty to his part in the attack before the case went to trial.

Mr Christopher O’Gorman, defending Bagdonavicius, said he had originally denied the crime but had been convicted by a jury following a trial.

Jablonskis was sentenced to four-and-a-half years, while Bagdonavicius was given a five-and-a-half year sentence.

By Steve Wright