A DISABLED pensioner was robbed and brutally beaten - for two pence.

John Davies, 67, of Lliswerry, Newport - who is registered disabled and suffered a stroke two years ago - told the Argus his attackers were "outright evil".

The Argus reported on Saturday that Newport trio Gerrard Ward, 25, Adam Mew 24, and Simon Williams, 28, all of Nash Hostel, Pill, were jailed for a total 21 years after admitting robbery charges.

The trio attacked the pensioner at Newport bus station on August 26 last year - after spotting him picking up a coin.

Mr Davies - who had part of his stomach taken away when surgeons removed a growth in 1999 - said: "I bent down to pick up two pence, it is a habit of mine - my wife jokes that I'm the only person to go out with nothing and come back with a pocket full of money."

The men confronted him before grabbing him and knocking him to the ground.

He was punched in the arm and his wallet and a purse - both empty - taken.

Mr Davies said: "All I had on me was 20p and they didn't even get that. They said I would be stabbed if I went to the police as they knew who I was and where I lived."

They attacked him again as he tried to get to the Royal Gwent Hospital for treatment. He said: "I was hit on the back of the head, punched in the mouth and kneed repeatedly in the groin - I said I'd had a stroke but they didn't bat an eyelid. I believe I am lucky to be alive - if they burst my stomach I could have died."

The former RAF man added: "These people are outright evil."

Another victim, Paul Blake, 19, of Nash Road, Lliswerry, was robbed of £25.

He said: "Two of them started throwing abuse at me and another chased my friend away. I was kicked in the ribs and they took £25.

"I do fear that it could happen again and now get a taxi straight to my front door."

Ward and Mew also admitted kidnapping and robbing homeless Newport man Abdul Aziz. Cardiff crown court heard they subjected him to an horrific beating after bundling him into a boot of a car.

Detective Constable Cameron Ritchie, who helped jail the men said after the case: "These people are cowards and I am pleased with the sentence which should make it slightly easier for the people of Newport to sleep at night."