A SCHOOLBOY had his new bike stolen after a thug shoved him to the floor while he was waiting for a friend.

Damien Johnson, 12, was waiting with a friend on Glenwood Avenue in Westcliff when a man approached him at around 8am on Thursday.

The man offered to swap a damaged phone for Damien’s bike.

Damien, who goes to St Thomas Moore school in Southend, said no, resulting in the man grabbing hold of the brake levers to stop him cycling away.

The man grew more aggressive and shoved Damien to the ground, stealing his bike, worth around £250, and riding off down the road.

Damien’s step-mum Zoe Johnson said he has been left shaken by the mugging.

She said: “I’m truly amazed how some people sleep at night.

“Damien was just waiting with his friend when this man approached. When he offered Damien his phone he could clearly see it was damaged and broken, he was never going to give up his bike.

“We only bought it for him a few days before as an early Christmas present to encourage him to get out of the house and as a means to get to school.

“He was left really shaken and didn’t go to school on the day.

“He’s a quiet boy in general and was even more quiet then, he was a bit nervous about going to school on Friday.

“But he’s managed to wind his younger sister up, so he should be ok.”

Damien and his three siblings live just around the corner from where the mugging happened on Westborough Road.

The same day, Mrs Johnson shared CCTV footage from a neighbour’s house which shows a man loitering across the road before walking over and stealing the bike on Facebook.

It has since been shared more than 5,000 times.

She said: “We’ve had lots of great support from people, but also many saying similar things have happened to them, it’s becoming such a common occurance, such a bad state of the world at the moment.

“We live less than 100 metres away from where it happened, it’s quite worrying when you think about it.”

Since the mugging, businessmen have come forward offering to replace Damien’s bike.

Andre Rayson, from Elmsleigh Cleaning Services in Leigh, and Justin Slowly, from Apollo Kitchens Ltd in Southend, have both offered a new bike for Damien.

Mrs Johnson added: “We had the offers come through on Friday, which is really lovely, it’s a silver lining to it all and it does show there are great people willing to help.

“I’m still shocked anyone would want to target an innocent young man and his bike, the CCTV footage has been shared and the police have all the information, I really hope something becomes of it.”

A spokesman for Essex Police confirmed they are investigating the incident.

No arrests have been made, and enquiries are still ongoing.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.