A man who is accused of stealing a woman's cellular phone was sentenced to nine months in prison when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday.

Pleading guilty with explanation to larceny from person is 40-year-old Everald Jones from Greenwich Park Road, Kingston 5.

It is alleged that on December 5, around 5:30 p.m., the complainant had stepped out of a car at the intersection of Constant Spring Road and Courtney Walsh Drive, when a man grabbed the phone from her bag and ran into Pavillion Mall, in Half-Way Tree, where he was apprehended by security guards.

After the allegations were read, Jones told Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey that he did not steal the complainant's phone, but found it on the ground.

"I saw the phone on the ground and pick it up and was walking towards the mall, I give the security over there 'cause I hear the lady bawling 'teef, teef,' so I say is must the phone she looking for," he explained.

The complainant told the court, however, that as she stepped out of the car, she felt someone bounce her and the phone was gone.

To which Jones admitted, "yes, I did bounce into har and pick up the phone."

RM Pusey then advised the accused, "you have to think about what you're saying."

The senior magistrate then asked the accused, "how many times have you been to prison?" to which he responded by showing four fingers.

After much prodding by RM Pusey, Jones admitted to going to jail twice for a similar offence and spending six months during his last visit.

He was sentenced to nine months in prison.