Jail for violent Walsall robbers who left victim in coma after stealing phone and just £3

Two robbers who violently attacked a man with learning disabilities, leaving him in a coma for days, have been jailed.

Mohammed Ali and Umair Anys attacked their victim as he walked on Watery Lane in Caldmore in Walsall, around 10.45pm on the 18 June 2020. 

They knocked him to the ground, kicking and punching him a number of times.

Police say despite the victim's pleas for them to stop, they searched his pockets and stole his phone, some keys and three pounds in cash.

He was also hit with bricks and a paving slab during the attack, knocking him unconscious.

He was in a coma in hospital for three days. Officers say even though he is now back home, he's been left too scared to go out, and needs extra support on a daily basis.

Police arrested Anys, who was 17 at the time of the attack, within a week, after trawling through CCTV.

Then in August 2020 the force issued a wanted appeal asking the public to help find Ali. He was tracked down and arrested in Newquay in Cornwall four months later.

Ali who's 27, and from Brace Street, Walsall and Anys, who's now 19, from Thorpe Road, Walsall, both denied the robbery.

They were both convicted on 25 February this year after a ten-day trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

At a sentencing hearing on Friday 21 October, Ali was jailed for 14 years. Anys was jailed for nine years and six months. A third man was cleared of the charge.

PC Jodie Allen of Walsall CID, said: "Ali and Anys carried out a sickening attack on a helpless man for the sake of a phone and few pounds.

"They ignored his cries for help and their vicious attack has left him and his family with scars that will never heal.

"We can't accept violence like this on our streets and we will always pursue those who commit such awful crimes."