A plumber has been jailed after stealing a smart phone from a pawnbrokers last week.

Lee Gray, 31, of Kidman Close, Gidea Park, ran off with a Samsung Galaxy phone worth about £330 after asking a sales assistant if he could hold the gold coloured handset, a court heard.

Gray, who appeared at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on Friday, wanted to see if a SIM card would fit in the phone before he rushed out of Cash Concepts in High Street, Romford, on Thursday.

Security guards “bear-hugged” Gray to the ground after he ran out of the shop with the phone after telling the sales assistant “what the f*** are you going to do about it”.

Gray, who appeared in court wearing grey tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt, managed to get away but was later apprehended by police.

The defendant, who had his arms crossed in court and wore his hair slicked back, activated a suspended sentence following an altercation with security guards at a McDonald’s restaurant in central London last year.

Judge Susan Holdham sentenced Gray to a total of 16 weeks in jail and issued a victim surcharge of £80.