A Devonshire teenager this morning admitted snatching a woman’s phone, after previously denying the offence.

Raheen Wray, 18, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to a single count of stealing a silver iPhone 6 belonging to Chelsea Burns in an incident on August 12.

The court previously heard that the complainant had been walking along Pitts Bay Road when she noticed Wray and three other men following her. She did not respond when they tried to talk to her and had sat down on a bench when Wray and another teen sat next to her.

While she was texting, one of the teens snatched her purse while the other took her phone. She attempted to chase the teens down but they managed to escape, running down Woodbourne Avenue. Ms Burns later contact police, who recovered CCTV footage of the incident.

Both Wray and another teen, Stanwon Swan, were charged and pleaded guilty to the offence in September, but Wray later changed his plea to not guilty.

While his trial was scheduled to begin this morning, he instead reversed his plea again, saying: “I would like to plead guilty because I have no lawyer or anything.”

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo ordered a social inquiry report be carried out on Wray, extending his bail until February 10 when he is set to return to the courts for sentencing.

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding criminal court cases. As we are legally liable for any slanderous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers.