Hainault mugger escapes jail but is banned from attending London Olympic Games

A teenager who mugged a young student late at night for her mobile phone has been banned from attending the London Olympics and going on holiday.

Harris Seundeli, 18, of Brocket Way, Hainault was handed a curfew preventing him from staying out late or going on holiday after admitting the “cowardly” late night robbery.

Seundeli, along with two accomplices, robbed Manju Sijabati for her �450 iPhone 4 while she was waiting for a bus in Eastern Avenue, Redbridge on October 31.

The trio donned hoods and masks before surrounding their victim and forcing the mobile phone from her grasp, by bending her thumb backwards and leaving her with bruising and a swollen hand.

The defendant was spared jail after admitting to a single count of robbery but received a four-month curfew and ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work when he appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday.

Judge Thomas Clark said: “This is to prevent further crime on your behalf and to punish you.

“Over this summer, while other young people will be going out, enjoying the Olympic Games and staying out late, you will be doing none of these things.

“The lady must have been very shaken by this cowardly attack. I hope you understand you have escaped by the skin of your teeth today.”

The court heard that Ms Sijabati had been alone at a bus stop and had just taken a phone call when she was approached by the gang.

Brian Kennedy, who was leading the defence, said of IT student Seundeli: “He acknowledges this is very serious.

“There was an element of peer pressure and he has made every effort to disassociate himself from the sort of people he has associated himself with not so long ago.”