A PHONE robber who threatened his victim with a broken bottle has been jailed at Worcester Crown Court.

Peter Read had been waiting for his girlfriend for more than three hours and was phoning her mother from a booth in Redditch to find out where she was.

Sarfrez Mohammed grabbed Mr Read's mobile as a practical joke but handed it to Iftakhar Hussain.

Prosecutor Abigail Nixon said Mr Read became angry, then took hold of Hussain by the neck before he heard the bottle being broken.

Hussain told Mr Read: "Do you want this?" The muggers ran off with the phone but were arrested after a police search of the area.

Hussain, aged 22, of Loxley Close, who pleaded guilty to robbery and the attempted street robbery of a woman in West Bromwich, was sentenced to two years.

Mohammed, 18, of Arthur Street, Lakeside, was convicted by a jury of robbery after a trial.

He was given 100 hours' unpaid community work, a two-year community rehabilitation order and an 8pm-7am curfew while he takes part in an offenders' behaviour programme.

Judge Andrew Geddes said Hussain had pushed the broken bottle towards Mr Read's neck. He had also grabbed a vulnerable woman from behind in a bid to get money.

The judge heard Mohammed had already served seven weeks in custody on remand.

Defence barrister Zaheer Afzal said: "This started as a practical joke that went down very badly."

He said the victim's phone was returned to him because of Mohammed's co-operation with police.

The court heard that at the time of the phone robbery on September 21, Hussain's life was going through an unstable period because of marriage problems.