A MAN has been jailed after punching and kicking a shopper before stealing his phone in Reading.

Darius Ellis, of Belmont Road, Reading, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday (June 20) after stealing a mobile phone to an unknown value from Zaheer Ahmed in Oxford Road.

The incident, which was caught on CCTV, happened outside Best Food and Wine store on February 14 this year.

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Ellis, 43, was jailed for 36 months.

Prosecuting, John Upton said the victim had visited the store at 3.50pm and was playing a scratch card outside when Ellis, ‘without altercation’, left the shop and punched him in the chest, causing him to the fall to the ground.

Mr Upton said: [Ellis] kicked him to the face and side and said, ‘I’m taking your f****** phone’.”

Ellis was then found at a nearby property in Belmond Road. An ‘unidentified’ female handed the phone back to Mr Ahmed and Ellis ‘threw the sim card’ back.

The defendant was last arrested and was wearing a different jacket but had the same shoes that he was wearing captured on the CCTV.

Mr Ahmed suffered from a broken nose, cuts and bruises, and states he ‘lost consciousness’.

“It’s quite clear that he was, at the very least, dazed,” said Mr Upton. “His glasses were broken. Mr Ellis gave a no comment [police] interview except to say he didn’t punch him.

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“He claimed the person on the CCTV was someone called Calvin but an identification process was carried out and this defendant was identified by Mr Ahmed.”

Mr Upton said that no evidence had been provided to any ‘relevant’ mental health disorders.

However, defending Ellis, his barrister Emily Beer said he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and stated he felt ‘unsupported’ in the Reading area.

He has previously been subject to a hospital order in March 2009.

The court that this is his first conviction for robbery but he was previously jailed for 14 months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm as well as having convictions for dishonesty and violence.

He has 12 convictions for 16 previous offences.

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Sentencing Ellis, Recorder John Bate-Williams said: “It was a cowardly attack. You had been drinking lager which was unusual for you and had been smoking cannabis which is known to agitate some mental health issues.

“I urge you when you’re released from prison to avoid cannabis. I take into account your guilty plea and absence of planning.”