A ROBBER who attacked two young women to get a handbag late at night has been jailed for 10 months.

Mohammed Ali, 27, asked his two victims for the time before following them down Iffley Road and then grabbing one of their bags during the February robbery.

Ali, formerly of Burchester Avenue in Barton, admitted robbery and assault at a hearing last month and was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor William Eaglestone said victim Jessica Martin-Beaumont fell to the floor during the struggle and her friend Fiona Curtis twisted her ankle when she was pushed over by Ali as she tried to intervene.

But he said Ali had stayed near the scene until police arrived and the bag and its contents were all recovered.

He said aggravating features were the fact that the crime was committed late at night, and added: “These were two young women on their own.”

Tim Boswell, defending, said Ali had been drunk during the attack and had since stopped drinking and moved to Bristol to get away from his past.

He said he was volunteering in Bristol, where he used his ability to speak Somalian and Italian to help people.

And he urged Judge Patrick Eccles not to send Ali to jail, adding: “It seems to have been an opportunistic, impulsive action down to drink.”

But Judge Eccles, sentencing, said it was too serious a crime for Ali not to go to prison.

He said: “It was a plainly opportunistic robbery and whatever your thinking was at the time, it is a fact that you stayed at the scene and did not run away as you could have done.”

 

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.

Our top stories