A MAN who stole a mobile worth £150 from a phone shop has been sent to custody after losing an appeal against his conviction.

The theft breached a suspended prison sentence that Ryan Murphy was under for assault and witness intimidation.

Sending 20-year-old Murphy, of Sandy Lane, Stourport, to six months detention, Judge Alistair McCreath said the breach had been the defendant's choice and he had no option under the law but to lock him up.

Murphy was shown the Nokia in Teleport in York Street, Stourport. He walked out carrying the phone and drove off in a car but the registration number was taken, prosecutor Raj Punia told Worcester Crown Court.

He was found guilty by magistrates of theft but lost an appeal at crown court against the conviction last month.

Murphy was already under a suspended sentence for attacking a man in Stourport and warning him to drop another assault charge, the judge heard.

Defence counsel Emma Rutherford said he had been "very foolish" but was a hard worker and hoped to marry his girlfriend.