Man who ‘wished to appear hard’ joined in brutal city centre attacks on strangers walking home

A university student who ‘added muscle’ to a robbery gang in Manchester city centre had avoided jail.

Ivan Rosa Kita, then 18, joined a group of three who violently attacked people who were on their way home from work, walking back from a night out or even a young couple on a date. Whilst Kita was accepted by a court to not have used violence, he joined the group as ‘added muscle’.

Kita, along with other members of the group, namely; Nuno Ribeiro, Marco Da Luz and Helio Antonio Alexandre, all admitted offences of conspiracy to commit robbery. At his sentencing hearing today, September 20, Kita, of Cheetham Hill, was handed a suspended sentence.

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The court heard that on April 23, the group had been into the Cargo nightclub, in the Printworks, before leaving at around 4am.

“After leaving the club, the group came across two males who had finished work and were walking home,” Judge Peter Horgan told the court.

“A member of the group asked if his jacket, an expensive brand, was real and proceeded to grab him and drag the coat off his back.”

The court heard that during the scuffle the man was punched by Ribeiro, knocking him to the ground. Kita, who was stood watching nearby, then proceeded to steal the phone from him whilst saying: “I’ll have that.”

In a statement, the man said he was left feeling worried and scared about walking home from work. The other man was also assaulted during the attack, it was said.

Minutes later, another man was walking down Market Street and was ‘intoxicated’, rendering him vulnerable.

Ribeiro initially approached him, putting his arms around his shoulders before making