A MOBILE phone mugger who took part in a street attack in Trowbridge has been jailed for two and a half years.

Eugene Brown, 23, who had no previous convictions, had denied his part in the street attack on a Frome man in Trowbridge town centre on the night of January 19 2002.

The 18-year-old victim was attacked as he walked along Fore Street and beaten by Brown and another man before his phone was taken.

Speaking after the verdict, acting inspector Graham Fisher of Trowbridge police, said: "We had a drive against mobile phone crime at that time. It is excellent to catch somebody doing this and the sentence sends a very clear message that this sort of crime won't be tolerated."

The court was told that, despite Brown having no previous convictions, comments from the Lord Chief Justice about mobile phone robberies meant a prison term was inevitable.

When the amount of street attacks for mobile phones was escalating a year ago the country's top judge, Lord Woolf, ruled sentences of a number of years in prison should be passed on offenders.

He said: "This will apply irrespective of the age of the offender and irrespective of whether the offender has previous convictions."

He said the lowest appropriate sentence for this sort of crime was 18 months, but terms of three years, or even five in cases involving weapons, could be imposed.

Peter Codner, defending Brown, said that the offence his client had been convicted of was the sort of crime more commonly committed by someone with a history of offending.

He told Swindon Crown Court that the offence wasn't a case where a gang of men had targeted people with mobiles in a city centre.

He said: "It is not particularly attractive but it seems this offence arose out of a more bullying or harassment situation with two groups of youths, rather than a planned attack."

"I can only ask you to pass a sentence to be as merciful as possible."

He told the court that his client, who lives in Gravelly Hill, Birmingham, was father to a number of children by different women but he did his best to be a dad to them all.

Sentencing Brown Judge Charles Wade said "A jury found you guilty of this one offence of robbery by stealing a young man's mobile phone from him by threatening and assaulting him.

"You have got to the age of 23 with no previous convictions and it is extremely sad that you have blemished your character.

"This is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.

"You picked on a young and comparatively inoffensive young man and stole his mobile phone. I am afraid the result of that is inevitable."