A phone thief was branded an ‘idiot’ by his own lawyer for prioritising a seaside birthday party over speaking to the probation service.

Leigh Clarke, 30, was due to be sentenced on Monday morning alongside friend Samuel Cooper, 29, for attacking another man and taking his phone.

But his brief, Lyall Thompson, told Oxford Crown Court there was no probation report and that the officer had been unable to get in touch with his client until last Thursday.

He said it was unfortunate that an appointment was given at such late notice but acknowledged his client had prioritised other things – such as a birthday trip to Bournemouth.

The barrister said: “I have drilled into him in no uncertain terms, your honour, how stupid he has been and the inconvenience that has caused the court and other parties and the danger that puts him in in terms of going into custody.”

Judge Michael Gledhill QC adjourned the case to July 26, but remanded Clarke, of Moorland Road, Witney, into custody. “In your own words, this young man has been an idiot,” he told Mr Thompson.

Co-defendant Cooper, of Valence Crescent, Witney, was given 24 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for two years. He was ordered to pay £300 in costs and compensation, complete the thinking skills programme and not contact his victim for the next five years.

Judge Gledhill told him: “Your behaviour on this day was appalling. Together with your co-defendant Leigh Clarke setting about this man, who’d done absolutely nothing towards you, is just not acceptable – as well you know.”

Prosecutor Joseph Templeton said the victim was walking along Corn Street, Witney, on August 27, 2019, with a friend when he was approached by Clarke and Cooper.

The two men, who were still in their work clothes and and had just been for a curry, ran after him.

Cooper pushed the man, causing his phone to fall to the ground. Clarke then pushed the victim into a shop window before Cooper grabbed the phone and they ran away.

Interviewed by the police, Cooper denied being there and said he’d ‘gone straight and was now a normal working person who didn’t need to rob’.

The pair had faced an allegation of robbery. Cooper, who has 19 convictions for 31 offences on his record, admitted common assault and theft while Clarke pleaded guilty to common assault and criminal damage.

Mitigating, Sarah McIntyre said Cooper earned around £250 to £500 a month as a labourer when his health allowed.

Judge Gledhill told the defendant: “These offences are so serious they cross the custody threshold.

“Bearing in mind your long history of offending, I am prepared in the circumstances to suspend the sentence because I think you might have taken a turn for the better to put this rather petty offending over the years behind you.”

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