A man who robbed a schoolboy in uniform after threatening that he had a gun has been jailed for 18 months.

Richard DeSilva, 27, accosted the teenager after he got off the Rockaway Ferry last November.

DeSilva was found guilty of robbing the victim, aged in his mid-teens, after a Magistrates' Court trial this week. He had claimed during his defence that he was nothing more than an observer to the incident, during which a 14-year-old alleged accomplice is said to have put the victim in a headlock.

The victim told the trial he felt fear when DeSilva told him he had a gun at one point during the attack. Goods including a laptop computer, sweets and an i-Pod were stolen from the youngster, but subsequently recovered. Neither the victim nor the co-accused can be identified due to their age.

Giving her verdict yesterday, Acting Magistrate Shade Subair said she was satisfied DeSilva did indeed act in the crime along with his alleged accomplice.

The court heard the defendant, of Sandys Parish, has numerous previous convictions for stealing, but not robbery. Senior Crown Counsel Paula Tyndale said the latest crime showed an escalation in his criminal behaviour.

Defence lawyer Simon Payne asked the court to consider giving his client a suspended sentence so he can seek help for his alcohol addiction.

However, sending DeSilva to jail, Ms Subair told him: "This court sees the offence as a serious one, and seeks to make a sentence to reflect the seriousness of its nature... the court is also having regard to the somewhat vulnerable nature of the victim, a schoolboy in uniform making his way home alone on foot, and the fact that you were in company with another."

DeSilva swore loudly in court as he was found guilty and sentenced, yelling: "I'm going to jail for something I didn't do."

However, no details were available yesterday on the progress or outcome of the alleged accomplice's case.