A would-be mugger tried to snatch a nurse’s bag as she waited at a bus stop in Headington.

Cameron Mirembe-Lewis, 20, who two-and-a-half weeks earlier had listed for sale on Facebook a mobile phone stolen in a different knifepoint robbery, fled empty-handed after a tussle with his victim over her handbag.

On Friday (September 15), Oxford Crown Court heard the defendant was under the influence of alcohol and ecstasy during the bizarre episode, having fallen in with the wrong crowd after moving out of his childhood home.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Gledhill KC said: “Those who go out mugging people in the circumstances that you did, have to know that if they do that and they are caught they will be severely punished.

“I have to send a message deterring the likes of people such as you from behaving in that outrageous, violent manner.”

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However, the judge spared Mirembe-Lewis an immediate prison term after learning that he had no previous convictions, was deeply remorseful and had got his life back on track in the 10 months since the offences were committed.

He imposed 12 months detention suspended for two years, with 150 hours of unpaid work and a requirement to pay £749 compensation to the man whose phone was stolen. 

Prosecuting, Honor Fitzgerald said the first victim had been walking home up Cheney Lane in the early hours of October 21 when he was surrounded by four men wearing balaclavas.

One asked him for the time, prompting the victim to take his phone out of his pocket to read the time off the screen.

A member of the masked group complimented the man’s wireless headphones, saying; “Those are nice AirPods you’ve got. What else you got? Hand over your phone.”

The victim described seeing a knife in the hands of one of the robbers. They asked for the pin code to the phone, warning: Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

Having initially had his phone returned to him, the victim was ordered to hand it back over.

He called the police from a friend’s house and, later that evening, found the mobile phone listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace for £650.

Mirembe-Lewis, who was not involved in the mugging, would tell the probation service that he had bought the iPhone for around £200 and was selling it for profit.

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Around a fortnight later, he tried to rob a nurse who was waiting at a bus stop on London Road, Headington, at around 6am on November 11.

Bizarrely, he asked for her passport before trying to tear the bag from around her shoulder. She managed to keep hold of the bag and took out her phone, warning the would-be mugger that she was going to call the police.

Mirembe-Lewis ran off and was photographed fleeing the scene. A police officer found him around 20 minutes later, still in the same neighbourhood and wearing identical clothing to those worn by the mugger. The defendant was picked out in an ID parade.

The defendant, of Leiden Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to attempted robbery and handling stolen goods. He had no previous convictions.

Mitigating, Bethan Chichester said her client was deeply ashamed of himself, saying he had been in a similar position himself. “He wishes to apologise to those involved,” she said.

Mirembe-Lewis was described as a ‘caring and kind young man’, a Christian who was supported by his girlfriend and family.