Thug robbers beat up victims and leave man fearing he'd be thrown into canal

'Despicable' thugs landed punches on two men and left one fearing he would be thrown into a canal over two terrifying incidents in Manchester. Michal Czerniawski and Michal Kardas attacked two men on the same day in an attempt to steal their belongings, Manchester Crown Court was told today (June 17).

The court heard how on the afternoon of November 10 last year, Czerniawski and Kardas approached their first victim - a man in his 50s - on Dale Street in the Northern Quarter. The pair demanded his bag before viciously and repeatedly punching the victim to his face.

A member of the public spotted the situation and ran over to help, leading to the defendants running away from the scene. Later on that evening, at around 8pm, the defendants found their second victim - a man in his 30s - who was walking beside the canal in Ancoats.

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Kardas, 37, put the victim in a headlock while the pair shouted at him to hand over money. Czerniawski, 36, lifted the victim up by his legs - leaving him fearing that he would be thrown into the canal.

Czerniawski then punched the victim to his stomach, while Kardas gripped his neck so tightly that he fell unconscious. When he woke up, the victim heard the pair demanding the pin code to his mobile phone, before they managed to leave with the device.

The defendants were caught and arrested by an officer after the first victim spotted the pair walking in the city centre the following Sunday and alerted police. Czerniawski and Kardas, both of no fixed abode, were found guilty of robbery and attempted robbery.

Czerniawski was jailed for four years and five months,