A YOUNG Irishman has been jailed for a knifepoint street robbery and smashing a glass bottle over a York barman's head.

James Russell was walking to a friend's house at about 3am at the end of a night out in the city centre when Rodney James Bonnes, 20, felled him from behind, said Nicholas Barker, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

Bonnes's unknown accomplice threatened the barman with a knife and despite Mr Russell pulling his own lock-knife, the robbers got away with his weapon and mobile phone.

The court heard Bonnes has previous convictions in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland for robbery and violence. His barrister Paul Williams claimed he had fled to England to escape paramilitary threats.

Judge David Bentley QC told him: "You may have been in a lot of trouble in Northern Ireland, but you are not in Northern Ireland now, you are in England, and we expect people here to behave decently and not indulge in the type of violence you indulged in."

Bonnes, no fixed address, pleaded guilty to robbery and was jailed for three-and-a- half years, his first time behind bars.

Mr Williams said the two robbers were strangers to each other who had only met that evening, and that the other man had suggested they go and rob someone. Bonnes had been drinking and taking drugs and had threatened to take his life a few hours earlier by jumping off a warehouse roof.

He had had a difficult childhood and started taking alcohol and drugs when he was 12.

Mr Barker said Mr Russell had been to a nightclub after finishing work in a city centre bar late on October 5. At about 2.30am he had gone home, picked up a rucksack and set off for a friend's house. As he was walking towards Lendal Bridge, the robbers walked past him and Bonnes attacked him from behind. The bottle made a 2cm cut to the back of his head. Police found fragments of glass with Bonnes's blood on it at the scene. Mr Russell picked himself up, got his own knife out and was backing away from the knife of Bonnes's accomplice when he tripped and the rucksack's contents and his knife flew on to the street. The robbers took the mobile phone and knife. He ran after them to get his SIM card from the phone back as it had personal information on it, but had to offer his CD player in exchange to get it.

Updated: 08:22 Monday, April 11, 2005