A Deptford man and two fellow thugs who punched, kicked and stamped on a man's head for his iPod at a Premier Inn have been jailed for a total of 21 years thanks to an appeal on Crimewatch.

The men approached their 27-year-old victim in Waterloo on March 2 this year. Realising they intended to rob him, the man dashed towards a nearby Premier Inn.

However, the hotel door did not open, and the trio - including 19-year-old Sermet Hassan from Evelyn Street - surrounded and threatened to stab him if he did not hand his phone over. 

The victim tried to strike out at one of the men, but was unable to get away and they began to assault him.

At this point, the hotel door opened and he desperately tried to escape into the hotel lobby but the three men followed him and launched into a violent attack, striking him several times over the head with a skateboard. 

Even after their victim fell to the floor, the three men continued to punch and kick him. CCTV captured one of the trio stamping on the man's head as he lay unconscious while Hassan stole his iPod.

The victim was rushed to hospital in a serious condition and, although he was discharged later the same day, was re-admitted to hospital  days later due to dizziness and memory loss.

After an appeal went out on the BBC Crimewatch programme in April, Hassan handed himself into a police station. His two accomplices were later arrested.

Hassan was found guilty on October 8 of robbery and attempted GBH. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently.

Joseph Tanti, 18, of Addington Road, south Croydon, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment, with a three year extended licence at the conclusion of the sentence after pleading guilty to attempted GBH.

Morgan Stripling, 18, of Addington Road, south Croydon, was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment after pleading guilty to attempted GBH.

Detective Constable Jamie Keane, from Lambeth CID said: "This was one of the most violent and frenzied assaults that I have ever seen. The three of them were intent on causing serious harm to the victim who was simply walking back home from a night out in central London.

"Even eight months on from the attack, the victim is still suffering from the effects of the attack, both physically and psychologically, but I hope that today's sentence will help him start to move on from this terrible ordeal."