A BEGGAR who battered Eighties' pop star Steve Strange - stealing a treasured bracelet given to him by Kylie Minogue - walked free from court yesterday.
The flamboyant Oakdale-born star, former frontman with 1980s' New Romantic band Visage, was beaten with a baseball bat or knuckleduster by 18-year-old Sammy Jefford, who suffers from a mental disability, last March.
Jefford searched his pockets and took the bracelet - a birthday present from the Australian superstar, Inner London crown court heard.
Last month a jury found that Jefford, who was not mentally fit to plead, had carried out the robbery.
Mr Strange, now working as a music producer and DJ, suffered an "immense amount" of bleeding when Jefford repeatedly punched him as he lay on the ground. Jefford, who has only now been named after losing his legal right to anonymity when he turned 18 on February 5, was seen going through Mr Strange's pockets by a motorist in Holborn, central London, at 5am on March 7 last year. He was arrested in Covent Garden two days later.
Judge Nicholas Philpot sentenced Jefford, now living with grandparents in Brighton, to a two-year treatment and supervision order.
He will be under the care of Brighton and Hove social services and will be treated by a psychiatrist.
PICTURE: Eighties pop star Steve Strange pictured with Kylie Minogue
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