A CANNABIS dealer told a jury he was punched and kicked by a gang after being dragged out of his BMW during an alleged knifepoint robbery.

Joshua Farmer, aged 18, of Howard Close, Newport, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of attacking Abu Bakar Kahim.

Prosecutor Nik Strobl told Cardiff Crown Court a third unknown male also took part in the alleged robbery in Caerleon.

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Farmer and the 17-year-old are also accused of later torching Mr Kahim’s BMW 118 SE after crashing it in Llangybi, near Usk, in October 2017.

Mr Strobl said the complainant was a cannabis dealer who was telephoned by someone wanting to buy three £10 bags of the drug.

The jury of three men and nine women heard how it was arranged for him to meet the caller after midnight at a car wash near the Hanbury Arms in Caerleon.

Giving evidence, Mr Kahim told the court how he was set upon as he waited at the arranged drop-off point in his car.

The complainant said: “Two males started attacking me. They threw punches through the window and they were connecting to my face.

“I tried to roll up the window when one of them reached through and grabbed my keys.

“I managed to roll up the window and they tried to smash it. When they couldn’t break the window with their fists, one of them pulled out a knife and tried to break the window with it.”

He told police in a statement the blade was a “well-polished silver kitchen knife”.

On being asked what happened next by the prosecutor, Mr Kahim replied: “I locked the car before one of the males dragged me out of the car and a knife was pointed at my chest and I was told to empty my pockets.

“I asked for my keys back because of my car and I told them we would leave it at that if I got my keys back.

“They threw punches and I was knocked to the ground and they were kicking me in the head.”

He added “I believe a chair was thrown at me and I ended up with a third male throwing me over a wall. One of them said they had a gun.”

The complaint said he managed to escape after being robbed of cash, his car keys, two £10 bags of cannabis and a Samsung mobile phone.

He told the court he suffered injuries to his head and ribs.

It is alleged that Mr Kahim’s car was later set alight by the two defendants and became engulfed in flames after they lost control of the vehicle and it crashed at Llangybi.

Mr Strobl told the jury: “At 3.19am, PC Andrew North approached Joshua Farmer who told him they had been abducted by two Asian males and that they had crashed and that’s how they had escaped.

“The prosecution says the vehicle was intentionally set on fire to destroy evidence linking them to the earlier crime.”

Farmer is being represented by Nigel Fryer and the youth by Harry Baker.

Both defendants deny robbery and arson at the trial before the judge, Recorder Simon Mills.

Proceeding.