A THIEVING Slough sixth-former has been spared a prison sentence after a judge heard of his ambitions to go to university.

The 18-year-old, who we are not naming, was told he had been ‘stupid’ when he and two others robbed two a pair of friends at Windsor train station in January 2021.

The incident occurred when the trio yelled at the friends to ‘wait’ before one of the boys asked ‘have you got a phone for me?’ to one of the victims.

A Samsung phone was handed over before another boy said ‘you’ve got a nice looking jacket, take it off’ to the other victim.

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The second victim challenged the thief, who then moved towards his belt.

This made the second man think the robber had a knife, so he handed over his jacket, Samsung phone, portable speaker, Monzo bank card and Nike Jordan trainers -- more than £680 worth of items.

“If we see you around this area again we are going to beat you up”, a member of the group said before all three fled.

One of the victims was forced to walk home shoe-less after being robbed and it later emerged that the thieving trio used the Monzo card to buy £10.87 worth of goods.

Prosecutor Leigh Hart said one of the victims was “really scared” by the incident and had “trouble sleeping” afterwards.

However, only one of the thieving trio was charged and they were summoned to court today for sentencing.

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Richard Davies, defending, said the defendant, who was 17 at the time of the incident but who is now 18, was “immature”.

He told the court that the defendant is currently a sixth former studying A-levels at a Slough college and he has three offers to go to university to study psychology.

Her Honour Judge Nott, sentencing, told the defendant that “people who commit robberies and come to the Crown Court generally go to prison.”

She added: “Bearing in mind your age and your guilty plea, I am not going to send you to prison.

“Your behaviour was utterly unacceptable and you know it.

“You were hanging around with people who you thought were your friends. They are not here and you are carrying the can. These are the kind of friends you were hanging around with.

“You were a young woman and you were stupid.

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“Everything I have read about you makes me think you have grown up in the last year and you have become less stupid.

“I’m going to give you a real chance. It seems to me that people who admit to their mistakes deserve a chance when they are committed at a young age.

“When you go to university, you don’t want it on your records that you have been subject to a prison sentence.

“You want to be able to go with a clean record.

“The chance is yours. You’re going to have to comply with the terms of your order and work really hard over the next four years to get your A-levels and degree.”

The 18-year-old was given a 12-month community order for two counts of robbery and one count of fraud.

He was told to take part in up to 15 rehabilitation activity days and ordered to pay £500 compensation.

The Slough man was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Thursday, March 10.