Chorley phone shop worker was punched and left bleeding by robber

More than £8,000 of phones were stolen, along with cash in the robbery at Fone World on Market Street, Chorley, on February 18.

Worker Abdur Dala, 52, from Preston, was punched to the floor by robber Severin Paraschiv as two accomplices began taking phones from behind the counter and the window display.He was then dragged into a rear room before he was punched in the face again.

Paraschiv, 33, of Colville Street, Liverpool, appeared before Preston Crown Court where he admitted two counts of robbery.

Prosecuting, Stephen Parker said: " The defendant entered on his own to begin with and approached Mr Dala, asking him if he had a replacement case for a Samung phone. Shortly afterwards two accomplices arrived who have subsequently been identified but not charged.

"Mr Dala was on the main part of the shop floor. He has little recollection of events saying at one point everything went black.

"The next recollection he has is being on the floor in the back office.

"He tried to get to his feet and look through a window. He could see the men filling up a large bag of various phones. He said the man who hit him came back and told him to stay on the floor. He said he was still feeling dizzy and out of it at that point."

The traumatised man rang his boss who arrived to find him bleeding and shaken, and he had to be treated at the Royal Preston Hospital for a black eye and swollen nose.

Police found 45 mobile phones, worth £8,920, were stolen.

He was linked forensically by fingerprints on the till and a piece of plastic on the floor.

Paraschiv provided a prepared statement in his police interview claiming he was not in the country at the time.

But two days after the Chorley robbery he raided a Carphone Warehouse store at Smethwick in the Midlands, in which £32,221.90 of phones and cash were stolen.

Paraschiv fled to Romania two days later but was arrested by border officials on his return to the UK.

The dad-of-one has no UK convictions but several in Romania.

Defending, Jacob Dyer said:" There was an absence of sophistication to these offences, no gloves, faces uncovered, CCTV, fingerprints left everywhere - the car used was identified at the address where the stash was found."

Det Con Leanne Oxley, of Lancashire Police, said: “Paraschiv is a dangerous offender who targeted the victim to commit a serious robbery.

“We will not tolerate travelling criminals who come to Chorley and carry out such offences.

“We welcome today’s sentencing and hope it serves as a warning to others wanting to commit such crimes.”