A ROBBER who punched a woman in the face as she was waiting at a bus stop to go on holiday has been jailed for four years.

Aaron Johnson, who now lives in Chepstow but is formerly of Windmill Road, Headington, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old was found guilty after a trial on one count of robbery and one count of attempted robbery on March 25 last year.

Judge Patrick Eccles said that together with another man, who remains at large, he approached two women at a bus stop in Oxford city centre in the early hours.

He said one of the robbers punched and possibly kicked their victims and together they stole an iPad and accessories, designer bags and shoes together worth £436.44.

Johnson has previous convictions for offences including theft, attempted robbery, shoplifting, criminal damage and taking a vehicle without consent.

Lucy Tapper, defending, said her client had now left Oxford and started a new life for himself but the crime had “come back to haunt him”.

She said: “He’s someone with a bad record for offending and some violence, although not the most serious violence I would suggest. But he is now someone who has turned a corner in their life.”

Judge Eccles told Johnson: “Young women who are robbed in this way feel a sense of insecurity and fear in their daily lives.

“Your victims have lost trust in going out and in the way that men will behave towards them.”

Johnson will also have to pay a £120 victims’ surcharge.