A YOUTH and two men have been jailed for an attempted mugging in East Oxford.

Muse Guled, 21, and Younis Ward, 18, both of Nye Bevan Close in East Oxford, and a 17-year-old had cornered three 16-year-olds in an alleyway next to Tesco in Cowley Road and threatened them for their mobile phones on September 4 last year.

The boys, who had been to a concert at the O2 Academy were told they’d be “cut” if they didn’t hand over their mobile phones.

Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday that they were able to escape the gang and flag down a police officer who was cycling along Cowley Road.

Nothing was stolen and none of the boys were injured.

All three defendants denied two counts of attempted robbery but were found guilty by a jury.

Judge Patrick Eccles sentenced Guled and Ward to 10 months detention, half of which the judge ordered should be spent in custody minus 108 days that they had been subject to a curfew.

The 17-year-old – who the Oxford Mail is banned from naming – was sentenced to a four-month detention and training order, half of which the judge said should be spent in custody.