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A thug who threw a brick at a man’s head forcing him to fall onto a train track has been jailed indefinitely.

Ian Tomlinson, 24, of no fixed address, carried out three attacks on men at Ipswich, Diss and Colchester train stations over a ten-day period in June last year.

In one attack, a man is believed to have been waiting on the platform at Diss before Tomlinson threw a brick at his head from close range.

CCTV footage from the incident shows the man already standing on the tracks as Tomlinson launches the missile.

British Transport Police said it is not clear if Tomlinson had already knocked the victim onto the tracks with a previous blow or if he had stumbled.

But the shocking footage shows the man fall forward onto the middle of the tracks where he lay unconscious and motionless on the high-speed line.

As he lay there, Tomlinson climbed onto the track and stole money from him, BTP said.

(Image: PA)

Another attack took place at Ipswich station, where Tomlinson reportedly broke into a car and stole a wheel brace before luring his victim to a multi-storey car park where he beat and robbed him.

On another occasion at Colchester on June 22 last year, Tomlinson targeted a passenger who had overslept on a train and missed the last connection.

He is believed to have lured him to a park where he attacked him, leaving him unconscious in a pool of blood before robbing him.

Tomlinson had admitted three counts of robbery and one of theft from a motor vehicle.

Yesterday, at a hearing at Ipswich Crown Court, he was jailed indefinitely as he is considered a danger to the public, BTP said.

He was told he must serve at least five years.

Detective Sergeant Dave Strange, who oversaw the investigation, said: “The judge recorded that all three offences fell within the most serious of the three sentencing ranges.

“I welcome the sentence handed down to Tomlinson, a serial offender who preyed on vulnerable victims before rendering them defenceless and stealing their belongings from them.

“I would like to reassure the public that the railways are and will continue to be a very safe environment and hope this result goes someway to showing there is a zero-tolerance policy in place to deal with violent offenders.”