A Sudanese asylum seeker has been jailed after putting a 15-year-old boy in a chokehold, punching him and stealing a treasured birthday gift during a late-night robbery in Coventry city centre.
Warwick Crown Court heard that Masoud Suleman, 19, targeted the teenager on Corporation Street shortly before midnight on June 17 last year.
The boy had been watching an England match with friends at Rileys Sports Bar on Butts Road and was making his way home after struggling to book an Uber.
As he walked past the former IKEA building towards St John the Baptist Church, Suleman approached him and repeatedly demanded to know: “Are you from Willenhall?”
The court heard the teenager had never met Suleman and did not understand why he was being confronted.
Suleman headbutted him and demanded his phone before using his bodyweight to pin the teenager against the church gates.
He then punched him twice to the back of the head.
During the attack, one of the victim’s AirPods fell to the ground.
Teenager put in chokehold
Suleman then placed the 15-year-old in a chokehold and stole a silver chain from around his neck.
The necklace, worth around £150, had been given to the boy as a birthday present by his grandfather and was said to have considerably greater sentimental value.
Suleman also took the teenager’s AirPods case containing the second earbud.
Frightened, the boy pleaded with his attacker to release him before Suleman eventually let him go and told him: “Go.”
The teenager immediately contacted his parents and called 999.
Police officers located Suleman minutes later on Lower Holyhead Road with two other males.
The court heard he had a balaclava rolled up on his head, while the teenager’s stolen chain was recovered from inside his manbag.
Suleman denied committing the robbery at the time and claimed the chain belonged to his cousin.
Victim left anxious following attack
In a statement describing the impact of the robbery, the teenager said the experience had left him frightened about walking alone at night.
He said: “Every time I walk down the road, I feel a bit scared and anxious because I do not know if it is going to happen again.”
Suleman, of Windmill Road, Coventry, pleaded guilty to robbery.
The court heard he was originally from Sudan and had moved to the UK around four years earlier. He was unemployed and had four previous convictions covering nine offences.
He had also previously been convicted of sexual offences committed in August 2025 involving two women near Coventry Transport Museum and Hales Street, for which he was sentenced in March 2026.
Suleman was sentenced to 27 months in prison for the robbery.
