A MUGGER who was hospitalised after being stabbed when he tried to rob a youth of his off-road motorcycle was told by a judge: "That's the risk you run."

The biker fought back when Aaron Smith and his pal Carl Wild attempted to snatch the Kawasaki machine and Smith was injured with a tool used for repairs.

His barrister told Teesside Crown Court yesterday (Friday, July 24) that the 24-year-old was "the author of his own misfortune" but said the injury has had a "profound effect".

Nigel Soppitt, mitigating, added: "Nothing could be done about it. It would seem to be the case that the police thought the complainant was defending himself."

Judge Howard Crowson told unemployed Smith: "That's an unfortunate consequence of trying to rob people who are not prepared to lie down and let you do it."

Smith, of Laburnum Road, and Wild, 24, of Lincoln Road, both in Redcar, east Cleveland, were each jailed for 18 months after they admitted attempted robbery.

Wild also pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by making a phone call from jail after his arrest to get the victim to blame Smith alone.

In the call to his family - recorded by the prison - he said he would pay £1,000 each to two witnesses, but the judge described it as "just hot air".

His barrister, Paul Abrahams, said he has no money and cannot work because of an accident when he was 12 when he was run over by his aunt's car.

Mr Abrahams told the court that Wild was badly injured in prison while on remand when he was slashed across the face, and added: "He believes there is a link."

Mr Soppitt said the attempted mugging was spontaneous when the two friends saw a group of bikers leaving Brotton Pit in east Cleveland in January.

He said Smith had recently worked hard to get qualifications in welding, site safety and for fire, following "a torrent" of offending up to 2014.

"He thought he had left his previous life behind," said the barrister. "It is a hiccup on the road to rehabilitation. There is a glimmer of hope."

Mr Abrahams added: "His attempt to pervert the course of justice could never have been achieved. There is no pun intended here, but it was a wild idea."