A FATHER was horrified to find his two-year-old boy had been mugged for a mobile phone while his back was turned.

Alex Enright became detached from the phone he was holding while standing outside the post office in Wrythe Lane, Carshalton in Sutton.

The toddler's father, Jefferson Enright, said he was shocked by the alleged theft and found it hard to believe anyone would stoop to the level of stealing from a child.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "The first thing I knew was when Alex was tugging at my leg obviously in distress. I noticed the phone had gone and saw a bunch of schoolchildren legging it up the road.

"I shouted after them, and I feel guilty that I didn't chase them but I had to check that Alex was OK. I can't believe people could take a phone from a child.

"Alex was shaken up by the incident, but he still loves playing with phones so it hasn't scared him off them for good. I really hope we can catch the people responsible for this, I don't want it to happen to anyone else's child."

Mr Enright said he had only allowed his son to hold the phone as a bribe to prise a chocolate egg out of his hands.

Shortly after he noticed something was wrong when his son started to pull on his trouser leg in distress.

It was then the father of two noticed the phone had gone and claims he saw a group of schoolchildren running off in the opposite direction.

Police are investigatin the incident which happened on Wednesday, October 18, some time between 1pm and 1.30pm.

A spokesman for Sutton police said: "We have done everything we can to find out what happened. We have spoken to the father and checked CCTV.

"The CCTV did not provide us with any information. As a result, we cannot be certain whether the phone was snatched or simply dropped and lost by the child, who was busy playing at the time."

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