A man who punched a man in the face before stealing his bicycle was jailed for 18 months last week after he agreed to spend a further 18 months on probation.

Ryan Douglas, from Florence Court in Belfast, appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday, November 19.

The court heard that Douglas, described as shaven-headed and heavily built, was walking along Clifton Street at the bridge over the Westlink in north Belfast at around 11pm on March 15 this year when he accosted the “slightly built” Yousef Syed on his bike.

Prosecution lawyer David McClean said Douglas demanded the bike, and when it was not forthcoming, punched Mr Syed in the face, knocking him to the ground and almost onto the road before trying to cycle off.

The entire incident, said the lawyer, was captured on police CCTV cameras and within minutes Douglas, who had “meandered” a short distance up the street, was arrested.

Mr McClean said that as a result of the attack, Mr Sayed had suffered three lacerations to his eye and cheek which needed five stitches.

At the scene and during later police interviews, Douglas continually lied to police, first telling them that Mr Sayed hit him first before launching into a story of how he had been the victim of an earlier sectarian assault by Catholic youths and so he took the bike as a getaway vehicle.

He maintained his innocence until the crystal clear CCTV footage was shown to him and Douglas later pleaded to a single count of robbery.

Defence lawyer Jonathan Connolly said the whole incident was “an example of an advertisement for CCTV” given that the entire incident was filmed, police were quickly on the scene, and Douglas was arrested whilst on the bike with his victim just a short distance away.

Handing down the jail term, Judge Geoffrey Miller QC said it had been a “nasty incident” and ordered that as part of the probation, Douglas complete courses in anger management and the “think first” programme.