TWO brothers and their friend stole a wallet from a man who has a mental age of eight before beating him up.
Darren Doyle, Kieran Doyle and Daniel Higgins chased Mark Wake before kicking and punching him in Markeaton Park.
Derby Crown Court was told the four men had been drinking after Mr Wake had withdrawn £220 from a cashpoint and buying alcohol.
Abigail Joyce, prosecuting, said Higgins, 21, of Almond Street, Normanton, accused Mr Wake of taking his cigarette lighter before reaching into his pocket and taking his wallet.
Miss Joyce said: "Mr Wake was then assaulted by Darren Doyle. He was pushed to the floor and then kicked. Mr Wake managed to get up.
"A witness saw the attack and at first thought the group were messing about but he then called the police and told them how the trio chased after Mr Wake and kicked his legs from under him.
"Mr Higgins grabbed him in a headlock while the other two carried on kicking him before dragging him away."
After the hearing, a police spokesman confirmed that Mr Wake, who is 24, was vulnerable as he had a mental age of eight.
The attack took place on October 4 last year.
Three days later, Darren Doyle committed another robbery and the following day he and his brother attempted to rob another person.
The details of those incidents were not divulged in court but Darren Doyle, 22, of no fixed abode, has previously been handed a 20-month jail sentence for those crimes and his brother, 18, of Clarence Road, Normanton, was given a 12-month sentence in a young persons' institution.
The pair and Higgins all pleaded guilty to the theft of Mr Wake's wallet and to assaulting him.
Judge John Burgess handed the Doyle brothers an additional two months to their current sentences.
He jailed Higgins for eight months, suspended for 12 months, ordered him to undertake 150 hours' unpaid work and told him to pay £300 compensation to Mr Wake.
Judge Burgess told Higgins: "What you did deserves prison. It was wrong, it was mean and it was dishonest.
"You beat this lad up, a supposed friend who suffers from learning difficulties.
"It was three against one and that is not fair and not right."
Judge Burgess told the court he was suspending Higgins' prison sentence as for the past six months he has been "doing exceptionally well" on a course he is taking, supervised by the probation service, for a previous minor crime.
Kevin Waddingham, for Higgins, said: "He (Higgins) walked into my office in July and said to me 'I want to man up and plead guilty'.
"Previously his life was in a cul-de-sac. He had a lack of structure and a problem with alcohol.
"Now he has given up drink.
"He is extremely sorry for his actions."
