A 17-year-old boy was humiliated by being forced to strip naked on camera by a robber whose friends humiliated the victim by putting the footage on social media.

Lewis Caron led the attack on the teenager who he claimed owed him £20 and left him wearing only his socks. He was so embarrassed that he has moved away from South Devon as a result.

Caron was with a group of young people when he confronted the victim and one of the others used their phone to record what followed.

The crime came to light when police were tipped off about the disturbing images circulating on social media. Officers downloaded the footage and identified Caron as the leader of the group.

Caron, aged 20, admitted robbery and was jailed for two years, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 15 days of rehabilitation activities and 70 hours of rehabilitation activities by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

He said he was only suspending the sentence because of prison overcrowding and the inexplicable 14 month delay in bringing the case to court.

He told Caron: ‘You said the victim owed you a relatively small amount of money but nothing could possibly justify the way you humiliated him. Why on earth you thought this was worth it, I have no idea.

‘The mobile phone recording found its way onto social media and that is an additional piece of additional humiliation. The victim was left fearful and physically injured and more significantly, extremely embarrassed, leaving him to move away from the area.’

The judge made a restraining order which bans any further contact with the victim and prohibits Caron from making any reference to him on social media.

Mr Tom Bradnock, prosecuting, said the robbery happened in July last year when Caron and a group of his friends stopped the victim on a footpath in South Devon. The told him to run but he was tripped over and then punched and kicked on the ground.

He was then bullied into stripping off his clothes and shoes and left wearing only his socks as he was filmed on at least one mobile phone. Caron took £20 cash and they all left him there in a state of distress.

Police were alerted to the footage circulating on social media and were able to trace Caron.

Mr Brian Fitzherbert, defending, said Caron had overcome ADHD and other mental health issues and been a successful student until his life had been knocked off course by the Covid lockdowns and his family moving to Devon.

He fell in with people who proved to be a bad influence on him and had problems with the medication which he was prescribed by his GP. He felt that the victim was damaging his mental health by not repaying the money he believed he was owed.