A STREET robber ripped a £5,000 Rolex watch from his victim's arm - then fled to a Plymouth street called Diamond Avenue.
But low-life Rayan Soultan was eventually jailed after a burglary he carried out in the city, which he says he only committed so he could make enough money to leave.
The 22-year-old was jailed in Wales after finally going before a judge for the early-hours watch robbery - and may now be deported.
Cardiff Crown Court heard how Soultan targeted victim Anthony Leyshon, 47, as he walked to a chip shop in the Welsh capital after a night out with friends on March 8.
Prosecutor Ian Kolvin told the court one man approached him and a second grabbed at his watch.
"He tried to hold on to it but it was pulled and pulled until the strap snapped," he said.
"The men ran off with it and Mr Leyshon went straight to police officers on duty in St Mary Street and reported it.
"He had paid £4,500 for the Rolex Explorer II but believes it had increased in value and was worth £5,000 when it was stolen."
Algerian national Soultan was identified from CCTV and found to have fled to Lipson, where police discovered him living at Diamond Avenue.
He was arrested and bailed, but then burgled a Plymouth bedsit and took computers, cash and a pair of Reebok trainers while the tenants slept.
Laurence Jones, for Soultan, told the court: "He says the burglary was committed in desperation because he had no money to get back to Cardiff from Plymouth, to answer his bail."
Soultan, who speaks little English and who was helped through the court proceedings by an interpreter, admitted both offences.
He said he was intoxicated on drink and drugs at the time of the robbery which Mr Jones described as "unpleasant and nasty".
The court heard how he had committed a similar street robbery with an accomplice in 2011.
Recorder of Cardiff Judge Eleri Rees jailed Soultan for two years and eight months.
She told him: "I cannot say on what date you will be released because you may be detained for deportation purposes following your sentence."
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