A MAN has been jailed for four and a half years after pulling a woman from the car by her neck, stealing the vehicle and crashing in it in Reading.

Mohamed Hamza, of Liverpool Road, was found guilty on June 5 of one count of robbery and one count of driving with no insurance after the incident on October 29 last year.

The 20-year-old was sentenced on Tuesday (July 18) at Reading Crown Court by Judge Hassan Khan.

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Prosecuting the case, barrister Michael Hollis summarised the trial which heard that the victim had been driving home in the early hours of the morning from work along Wokingham Road, Reading.

She had stopped for a red light before Cemetery Junction when a hooded male opened the door, pulled her from the vehicle by her neck and then sped off down London Road with two other males in tow.

The silver Corsa was later found by an off-duty officer, crashed and abandoned near the A3290 roundabout.

A victim impact written by the woman was read out to the court by Mr Hollis. She said the incident had impacted her a lot.

“A few days later bruises appeared on my leg,” she wrote. “It made me scared and I realised the seriousness of what happened to me.

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“I’ve been very anxious when driving my car, I’m anxious to go out at night or when it’s dark. I always check my back seats at night.

“I was also scared of them learning where I lived and coming to my home, potentially from finding my address on a letter in my car.”

The court heard Hamza has five convictions for 12 offences and was in breach of a 11-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, at the time of the incident.

This was because he was sentenced in March 2022 for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

Defending Hamza, his barrister James McCrindle said: “He’s still a young man, 21 now and only 20 at the time.

“On the face of his previous engagement with probation, there’s a good prospect of rehabilitation and compliance.

“In my submission, his youth and attitude in prison gives him strong mitigation for suspension.”

However, Hamza was handed a custodial sentence of which he will serve half of being released on custody.

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He received no separate penalty for breaching the terms of the suspended sentence.

During the trial, Hamza was also accused of attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm but the jury acquitted him of these charges.