AN armed robber on a mountain bike who targeted youngsters was jailed today.

Raymond Coglan threatened to stab several teenagers to force them to hand over their money and mobile phones.

He blamed drink for his downfall, and on Saturday he will spend his 21st birthday being transferred from a young offender's institution to an adult prison.

Coglan attacked youngsters in Darlington while committing three robberies on the same day, Teesside Crown Court was told.

In the afternoon he grabbed another cyclist in an alleyway near Victoria Road, Darlington, threatening him with a lock knife, saying: "If you move I will catch you and stab you."

He then ripped the youngster's jacket and stole a £10 note and three £1 coins before riding away. The victim went immediately to Darlington police station.

In the evening Coglan approached a group of three boys and a girl sitting outside Marks and Spencer's store and he asked them for cigarettes, said prosecutor Kate Dodds.

When they said that they did not smoke he asked for 50p before robbing them at knifepoint of two mobile phones and 50p.

He cycled away saying: "If I see you again I'll stab you."

Jamie Hill , defending, said that Coglan had a drink problem and he wanted 50p to phone his mother to ask her to meet him in a pub.

Judge Michael Taylor told him: "You are going to spend your 21st birthday being transferred from a young offender's institution to an adult prison.

"These sorts of offences are all too prevalent in this part of the world, and custodial sentences are bound to follow particularly when there is a knife."

Coglan of The Green, Darlington, was jailed for 27 months after he pleaded guilty to three robberies in March.