A TEENAGE street robber who beat up a younger boy and stole his £130 mobile phone has been locked up for 18 months.

Naheem Mohammed, aged 16, and an unnamed accomplice pounced on the 14-year-old boy in Knowsley Street, Bury.

Mohammed, of East Street, Bury, appeared at Bolton Crown Court for sentence for robbery yesterday.

Judge Gillian Ruaux sentenced Mohammed to an 18-month detention and training order and said: "This robbery was a very serious offence and is all too prevalent in our community.

"It was a nasty crime because your victim was only 14 years old. There were two of you and you subjected him to physical violence."

Bunty Batra, defending, said Mohammed had shown remorse and his father planned to send him to live with his extended family in Pakistan when he had finished his sentence.

Prosecutor Simeon Evans said the 14-year-old boy had been with a friend in Knowsley Street, in Bury, on November 7 last year.

He had been playing with his £130 Nokia mobile phone but put it inside his pocket when he saw Mohammed and another male approaching.

Mohammed asked him if he had a phone but the boy said no. Mohammed told the terrified boy that he would search him and if he found anything he would hit him.

The boy's friend was searched and allowed to go and Mohammed frisked the teenager and discovered the phone.

The boy was then punched in the face and arm and kicked on the leg by his attackers who then ran off.

He was arrested and Mohammed was subsequently picked out at an identity parade. The phone was not recovered.