A robber caught by a have-a-go-hero shortly after stealing a phone from a woman has been jailed.

Andre Hendon, 22, of Malta Street, Clerkenwell, has been sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court on June 20 after pleading guilty to theft.

Hendon snatched an Iphone from a 31-year-old woman in Lever Street, Clerkenwell, on May 18 before riding off on his bike. Kent-based delivery driver Mark Tomlinson-Alan witnessed the incident, stopped his truck and chased after the thief on foot.

Mr Tomlinson-Alan, 34, cornered Hendon by a block of flats and pinned him on the floor until police arrived.

He said: “It was just a case of me being in the right place at the right time for that girl, but it didn’t matter who it was I still would have helped them. It is not right that we work hard to get these things and then someone can just steal them. It was an instinctive reaction to stop him. I just didn’t want him to get away with it.”

Detective Sergeant Harry Kooner, part of the team which investigated this case, said: “I am pleased for the victim that in this case her phone was returned to her thanks to the commendable actions of Mr Tomlinson-Alan. However there are other robbers who are out there looking for opportunities to steal high value smart phones, so we urge people to please be vigilant when using these in public.”

Hendon has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. He received three months for the theft to be served on top of a nine month sentence for breach of an earlier suspended sentence.