A robber was caught shortly after stealing a Gucci bag after his victim called police on his mobile phone.
Saimonas Charmanskis, 20, approached a man who had been walking through an area of The Walks in King’s Lynn and pushed him, before demanding he hand over the bag.
Norwich Crown Court heard the victim, who was “very frightened” and “fearful”, handed over the Gucci item, before Charmanskis ran off.
Oliver Haswell, prosecuting, said the victim called 999 on his mobile phone and Charmanskis was arrested by officers nearby.
The bag was later recovered in the undergrowth although it was not clear whether anything had been taken.
Charmanskis, of no fixed abode, appeared at court on Tuesday (May 2) having admitted robbery at about 9.30pm on July 26 last year.
He also admitted a further offence of theft which happened just three days earlier, on July 23.
A bike, worth £500, which had been locked up outside a leisure centre in Lynn, was stolen by the defendant.
Duncan O’Donnell, mitigating, said Charmanskis was a “monosyllabic” 19-year-old at the time of the offences and finds it very difficult to express himself verbally.
He said the defendant does not think it is right to threaten people or to take people’s property and was “extremely sorry” for what he has done.
Judge Anthony Bate, who said the robbery victim had been entitled to go through The Walks “without fear of being accosted”, sentenced the defendant to a two-year community order.
It comprised 25 days Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR), a six-month trial monitoring programme as well as 240 hours unpaid work.
Source : EasternDailyPress
