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A furious judge admitted a legal loophole made it impossible to jail burly lout Scott Floyd, 26, who held his arms aloft and bragged: “He walks free from court.”

Floyd and an unnamed accomplice who fled to Spain attacked Nicola Stevenson after she refused to hand over her car keys.

Floyd kicked and punched her legs before grabbing the keys and driving away, Teesside Crown Court was told.

He was arrested after crashing and writing off the car and was originally charged with robbery.

But the Crown Prosecution Service had blundered.

The legal definition of robbery is that the intention has to be to “permanently deprive” the owner of the vehicle.

Lawyers decided they could not prove that was Floyd’s aim. Floyd admitted lesser charges of aggravated vehicle taking and assault.