Mugger has curfew relaxed so he can have a cigarette break

A convicted robber has been allowed to change his curfew so he can go out in his garden for a cigarette, following a court case believed to have cost thousands.

Matthew Salamino, 20, had been banned from going outside between the hours of 8pm to 7am after being made subject to an electronically-tagged curfew.

But after he was banned from smoking in the house by his mum, a court hearing was held for his defence lawyer to ask whether the curfew terms could be relaxed.

His barrister Ian Windridge told Warwick Crown Court that his client lived with his mother but she would not let him have a cigarette indoors with a young child living there.

When the monitoring company turned up to fit the tag, they would not extend it to the garden because the order specified he had to be at the address – which they interpreted as meaning inside.

Recorder Christopher Tickle has now agreed to relax the conditions.

He said: ‘To be clear, let us extend the curfew to include the garden.’

The court previously heard how Salamino, from Coventry, was sentenced for mugging his victim in 2016.

The teenage victim left his girlfriend’s home on his bike at about 10pm to meet a friend in Coventry.

After receiving a text from a girl who said she was in a nearby park, Salamino encountered his victim, jumping off his own bike and run towards him.

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During the incident, Salamino held a bike lock to his neck and demanded: ‘Give me your phone. I want your bag.’

Salamino was handed a suspended sentence after Windridge argued that Salamino had since turned his life round, had not re-offended and had a good job.

As well as the electronic tag, he was ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work, pay £1,800 compensation to his victim and £500 court costs.