by Keith Hunt

A teenage thug kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach as he tried to rob her of her handbag.

Alison Spicer was left distraught and in agony as Dean Foord and another youth ran off, a court heard.

Foord, of Phoenix Court, High Street, Gillingham, denied any involvement in the mugging but a jury unanimously convicted him of attempted robbery and assault.

Mrs Spicer told how she was three months pregnant when she took one of her two young children to Woodlands Medical Family Practice in Gillingham on June 20 last year.

She left pushing her 19-month-old daughter in a pushchair along Woodlands Road at about 6.30pm. Her handbag was on the back of the pushchair.

When she reached a junction at Third Avenue she was grabbed from behind.

"He had me around the throat," she told Maidstone Crown Court. "He came round the side and kicked me in the stomach.

"I was showing because I am only little. They could see I was pregnant. I looked at him as he ran off.

"That's how I managed to describe him."

She told police the robber who attacked her was wearing black shorts and trainers and was bare chested.

She later picked 19-year-old Foord out of an identification procedure at Medway police station.

Mrs Spicer said she had a bad time in her pregnancy. Her third child is now nine weeks old.

Foord's numerous previous convictions were revealed as he denied any involvement in the attempted robbery.

He claimed he did not know what he was doing on the day of the attack but said he and his best friend usually walked around and played football.

Foord, who is 5ft 4in tall, told the jury: "I never take my top off. I don't like the shape of my body. I am skinny."

Asked whether he kicked the victim and tried to steal from her, he replied: "It's not true. I didn't do it. It must be a mistake."

Adjourning sentence until April 19 and remanding Foord in custody, Judge Jeremy Gold QC told him: "If you were an adult you would be going straight into custody today.

"Custody is inevitable in this sort of case."