Blood-covered teen terrified student in Sheffield phone robbery

A schizophrenic teen was covered in blood when he clawed at a female student as he mugged her in Sheffield, a court has heard.
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Igor Chromy wasn't wearing shoes or socks when he ran across a road and asked the woman to call him a taxi on August 22, last year, prosecutor Brian Outhwaite said.

When she told him she couldn’t because her phone was dead, he wandered off, only to return shortly afterwards and become verbally aggressive.

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"She pushed him away," Mr Outhwaite said. "There was a struggle to get her bag. He was snatching and grabbing at her and scratching at her face."

The latest cases from Sheffield Crown CourtThe latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court
The latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court

A van driver stopped and chased Chromy away, but he had taken her mobile phone. Police found him in a nearby drive.

The victim, who was left with minor injuries, said in a statement she had ‘never been so frightened’ and was ‘terrified at the time’.

The court heard from Dale Harris, mitigating, who made representations about Chromy's mental illness.

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Chromy, aged 19, of Hatherley Road, Tinsley, pleaded guilty to robbery via a Slovakian interpreter at Sheffield Crown Court on April 2.

Judge Peter Kelson QC told him: "I am satisfied you are suffering from schizophrenia. This disorder is of a nature that it is appropriate for him to detained in a hospital for medical treatment."

Judge Kelson made an order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Chromy will be detained at Wathwood Hospital near Rotherham.

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