A thug who tried to rob a teenager of his mobile phone while he waited at a bus stop has been locked up.

Benjamin Cronshaw approached the victim as he was listening to music on Blackburn Road in Great Harwood before demanding he hand over his mobile phone.

When the 18-year-old refused, Cronshaw started repeatedly punching him to his head and then shoved him against the bus stop wall, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Cronshaw, 19, eventually fled the scene after a neighbour shouted ‘**** off you scum bag’.

He pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and while in breach of a suspended prison sentence order and was sent to a young offenders institute for 14 months.

The court heard how Cronshaw, of Edward Street, Rishton, had only three months earlier been spared a custodial sentence after attacking a man with a garden saw.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, told the court how the attempted robbery happened at around 3.20pm on August 6 this year.

The court heard how the victim had just dropped off his niece and was then waiting at a bus stop when four lads on bikes, including Cronshaw, cycled past him.

Mr Parker said the victim was listening to music on his phone with his headphones in when Cronshaw came into the bus stop and said ‘give me your phone’.

Cronshaw tried to pull the phone out of the victim’s hand.

But he didn’t let go so the defendant punched him repeatedly to the left side of his head, the court heard.

When the victim ‘started to kick out to try and defend himself’ Cronshaw carried on punching him before ‘shoving him’ against the wall of the bus stop.

The court heard how the victim then told Cronshaw ‘I know who you are and I know where you live’, however this didn’t stop the attack.

Mr Parker said a local resident witnessed what was going on and ‘initially thought it was two lads having a bit of banter at the bus stop’.

However the court heard how the witness ‘then saw it escalate and realised it was more than that’.

Cronshaw fled the scene after the resident’s daughter shouted across the road ‘**** off you scum bag’.

When they went over to help the victim then saw his shirt had been ‘ripped open across the chest’.

Defence barrister Philip Holden said Cronshaw had been doing well on his suspended sentence order before the incident

The court had heard how the defendant had completed 105 out of his 150 unpaid work hours and also attended 22 out of 30 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions.

Mr Holden said: “A prison sentence it must be but this will be the first time he has been immediately imprisoned by the courts.

“This was a very unpleasant incident on the street.

“It’s actually quite surprising that he has gone on to offend again as he was complying with the order quite substantially in fact.”

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt said: “You were warned when you were sentenced in May that if you committed a further offence you would have to serve that sentence and then here you are three months later committing this attempted robbery.

“You had been going and doing the unpaid hours.

“To do 105 hours in three months is exceptional and you had been attending the meetings, but then you commit this offence.

“You will be on licence when you are released and I would take what assistance they are going to give you.”