'Man stole his online date's mobile phone after she refused to buy a round of drinks in expensive central London bar'

Kishore Nimmala and Fakhara Sultana met at the Ruby Blue Bar in Leicester Square

He had already spent £54 on two rounds of drinks when he asked her to pay for a third

As the pair walked to the station, he allegedly stole the woman's white Blackberry



Accused: Kishore Nimmala allegedly stole his date's mobile phone when she refused to pay her way at an expensive London bar

A man stole a woman's mobile phone to 'teach her a lesson' after she refused to buy a round of drinks and said she had expected him to pay for their first date at an expensive London bar, a jury was told.



Kishore Nimmala, 32, had already spent £54 on two rounds of drinks at a stylish Leicester Square nightspot when he asked Fakhara Sultana to pay for a third.

But he lost his temper when she told him she had no money, Southwark Crown Court heard.

The pair left the Ruby Blue bar when Nimmala allegedly become angry and Ms Sultana, whom he had met on online dating website Zoosk, told him she was going home.

As she walked to Charing Cross Underground station, Nimmala is accused of snatching her white Blackberry phone and running off with it.

Helen Thomas, prosecuting, said: 'This case is about a first date that goes badly wrong.

'Ms Sultana informed to defendant that she didn’t have any money with her and that she had assumed that he would be paying for the evening.

'At that point the defendant became angry and so their evening together came to an abrupt close.'

The couple then made their way to Charing Cross station with Nimmala allegedly badgering his date for her share of the cash on the way.

Ms Thomas said: 'Mr Nimmala kept saying to her that he wanted the £25 - her share of what he had spent on the evening- and Ms Sultana kept saying that she didn’t have any money.'

Hearing: Nimmala denied one count of theft at Southwark Crown Court

The court heard that when Ms Sultana took her phone from her bag, Nimmala 'grabbed it' and ran.

'Ms Sultana screamed after the defendant and ran after him,' said Ms Thomas.

First date: Kishore Nimmala is accused of stealing Fakhara Sultana's mobile phone after a date at the Ruby Blue bar in Leicester Square, pictured

Two police officers, who were on Charing Cross Road, joined the chase and caught up with Nimmala on St Martin’s Lane before they witnessed him throw the phone away.

'When asked why he ran away the defendant said "she took my money" adding "I took her phone",' Ms Thomas told jurors.

In police interview Nimmala told officers that he had spent £54 and he 'wanted her to pay her share'.

'He claimed that she was trying to cheat him and when she got her phone out he took it thinking that she would give him her share of the evening,' Ms Thomas said.

'The prosecution case is that the defendant was fed up having shelled out money on a date that was going nowhere and he decided to teach Fakhara Sultana a lesson by stealing her mobile phone out of spite and causing her maximum inconvenience in doing so.'

The court heard that Nimmala does not deny taking the phone without permission, but that the issue is whether or not he did so dishonestly and with the intention to permanently deprive her of the device.

Nimmala from Leyton, east London, denies one count of theft.