A robber who attacked five people after being released from prison just one month earlier has been locked up again.

Serial robber Barry Silburn, 42, of Stacey Street in Finsbury Park, was handed an indeterminate sentence by a judge at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday and told he will serve at least seven years.

Silburn, dubbed the Parkland Walk Robber, was convicted of robbing four people and attempting to rob a fifth along the nature trail between Highgate and Finsbury Park on three days last summer.

At the time of the attacks which began in May 2008, Silburn had just been released from a four-year prison sentence for robbery offences in 2003.

This time the court heard how Silburn robbed two friends in their 60s, Rayah Feldman and Ann Whitehead, on Saturday, May 31. Silburn grabbed the women, pushing them into the bushes before stealing their purses.

In a second similar attack the court heard how Silburn crept up behind friends Basia Lejonvarn and Rose Catt, who were out walking through Parkland Walk at lunchtime on Thursday, June 26.

In December the women told the court they thought Silburn was going to kill them when their heads were grabbed from behind and they were pushed into bushes of nettles along the path, not far from Crouch Hill.

Giving evidence in court, Mrs Lejonvarn said: "He grabbed me by the back of my head. I tried to push back against him but I couldn't. He just grabbed me and he must have held Rose's head too. He shoved us into the side of the bushes.

"He was saying things like 'don't scream, don't say a word'."

Mrs Catt added: "It was very frightening. When he first approached us I thought we were going to be reallly really hurt.

In his last attack Silburn grabbed 74-year-old dogwalker James Burgess from behind on Saturday, July 7, pinning him to the ground while he searched his pockets.

Police managed to arrest Silburn a few roads away in Ferme Park Road, Crouch End, where he was breathing heavily and sweating.

Silburn claimed to have been in the area visiting his girlfriend but this excuse was rejected by a jury who found him guilty.

Detective Constable Saima Hussain, of Haringey's robbery squad, said: "This was an extensive investigation and I would like to thank all involved in capturing the offender.

“I would like to thank the prosecution lawyer and also the victims for attending court and having the courage to give evidence.

“Silburn had only been out prison for a month, before he began to prey on these vulnerable victims and I am glad that justice is done."