A convicted robber who was given a chance in May to keep himself out of prison skipped a court date, prioritised his birthday then ‘buried his head in the sand’, Oxford Crown Court was told.

Daniel Lewis, then 24, received an 18 month suspended prison sentence last summer for robing an Audi driver of his jacket and headbutting him at a gathering in the Banbury M&S car park.

Having already breached that suspended sentence order once, he appeared before Oxford Crown Court in May accused of a second breach of the court order.

READ MORE: Suspended sentence for robber who stole jacket then smashed into victim's Audi

On that occasion Judge Michael Gledhill QC adjourned the case for the preparation of psychiatric reports by Lewis’ lawyer.

When the robber failed to return to court last week, the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Lewis was duly arrested this week and appeared in the crown court dock on Thursday.

Explaining her client’s absence last week, Dana Bilan said: “He celebrated his birthday over the weekend.

“In the end he buried his head in the sand and did not manage to come to court to face the music in fear of the inevitable, which he believed at the time meant he would be going to prison.”

READ MORE: Robber's done 30 minutes out of 155 hours of unpaid work, court told

Judge Gledhill gave Lewis 28 days’ imprisonment for failing to attend court last week and said he would deal with the breach of the suspended sentence order on Monday, June 27.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward