A TOWN councillor’s 12-year-old son was robbed of his mobile phone in Newton Abbot after being offered drugs by a dealer.

Cllr Chris Coyle-Moore’s son Warren had just been dropped off by his school bus at Penn Inn on Monday (July 2) when the attacker struck outside flats next to Sandringham Park.

The offender, whose details have been given to police, offered the lad some cannabis which he refused.

Warren then ran off only to be chased by the man in his

20s who floored the fleeing youngster with a punch to the face.

In the commotion at about 4.30pm, Warren dropped his £100 iPhone 4 which was then stolen by the attacker who fled on foot.

The Year 7 pupil at Torquay Boys’ Grammar School made it home to Queensway where he told his shocked parents: ‘You’ll have to call the police.’

An angry Cllr Coyle-Moore said after the drama: ‘We are getting a bit of a crimewave in Newton Abbot at the moment. A lad was attacked in Victoria Gardens later the same day.’

He added: ‘It’s just ­unacceptable that this should happen to any 12-year-old in broad daylight in Newton Abbot.

‘Warren was a bit shaken up by it all. His jaw hurt a little bit. But it’s sad to think that incidents like this can be ­tolerated.

‘He is now concerned that he has to walk past the same spot every day thinking the same thing might happen again.’

The culprit, who was clean shaven and spoke with a local accent, was wearing a ­distinctive black baseball cap with ‘Los Angeles’ written across it in red.

He was wearing light-coloured shorts, grey trainers, a black T-shirt and a black ­hoodie wrapped around his waist.

‘He was also carrying a camouflage-patterned rucksack,’ said Cllr Coyle-Moore who trusted police would do all they could to find the thug.

For the moment the anxious dad has been issued with a crime reference number – CR/058747/18 – which any possible witnesses of the ­incident can quote if they are minded to contact police about what they saw or anything they might know about the offender.

A police spokesman ­confirmed: ‘We are currently investigating an incident which happened on July 2 at ­Sandringham Park.

‘A 12-year-old boy was approached by an unknown man and was offered what was believed to be cannabis. The boy refused and ran off.

‘The man then chased the boy and punched him causing him to fall.

‘The boy dropped his phone in the process which was believed to have been picked up by the offender.

‘Officers are currently ­carrying out enquiries and an investigation is underway.’

The spokesman added: ‘The suspect is described as white, late 20s, and was wearing a cap with a black top and beige shorts with grey trainers.

‘Anyone with information is asked to contact us via [email protected]ce or by calling 101, quoting CR/058747/18.’