A robber who punched his female victim repeatedly in the face before stealing more than $3,000 from her has been jailed for three years.Steven Caisey, of no fixed abode, pounced on his victim, Karen Thomas, after spending time socialising with her at the home of a mutual friend on Devon Lane, Devonshire, on November 25 last year.Crown counsel Nicole Smith told Magistrates’ Court on Thursday that Ms Thomas left to go home in the early hours of the morning, carrying a plastic bag containing $3,072 in her bra.Unemployed Caisey, 51, who pleaded guilty to robbery, followed her down the road, grabbed her handbag and told her: “Give me the money”.“Finding no cash in the handbag, he started punching the complainant repeatedly in her face,” said the prosecutor. “He began searching the complainant’s person. He found the white plastic bag containing $3,072 in cash.“He took the cash and walked away, leaving the complainant lying on the road.”Ms Smith said police officers from the armed response unit who were patrolling the area found Ms Thomas lying on the road. She told them about the robbery and pointed out Caisey, who was walking away.As officers approached the defendant they saw $100 bills falling from his hands, added Ms Smith.He had the plastic bag containing the rest of the cash and was arrested on suspicion of robbery. Ms Thomas needed medical attention for her injuries.Caisey, who has previous convictions for robbery and appeared to be representing himself yesterday, told Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo he had nothing to say.“I guess there isn’t much you can say anyway,” the magistrate replied. “The offence and your antecedents speak for itself. The only thing you get credit for is your guilty plea. Robbery of a woman. Someone with money. It’s not good.”He told Caisey, who could have got a maximum of five years in jail, that he was locking him up for three, with time already spent in custody taken into account.