A teenage beggar battered pop icon Steve Strange senseless before snatching a bracelet given to him by Kylie Minogue.

Sam Jefford, 18, from Brighton, smashed the former Visage frontman over the head and punched him repeatedly, leaving him lying on the pavement in a pool of blood.

The treasured bangle, a birthday present from the Australian pop princess, was among the personal items he stole as he rifled the star's pockets. He also took jewellery, credit cards and a cheque book.

Strange, who gave his real name of Steve Harrington when he appeared to give evidence at Inner London Crown Court, said he was set upon after he refused to hand over £5.

The singer's blood was found on the youth's shoes when he was arrested two days later.

Last month, a jury found Jefford, who was not mentally fit to plead, had carried out the robbery.

Yesterday, Judge Nicholas Philpot sentenced him to a two-year treatment and supervision order.

He will be under the care of Brighton and Hove social services and a psychiatrist from South Downs NHS Trust.

The judge said the order was the best way to maintain control over Jefford, who lives with his grandparents in Queens Park, Brighton.

Strange, famed for his white facepaint and his one big hit Fade To Grey, told the court how he was walking through Holborn in central London with a friend called Nick when he was set upon on March 7 last year.

He said he had been DJ-ing and was due to go to an aftershow party.

He said: "I went to hail a taxi, got in, and realised the taxi was going in the wrong direction, so we got out. A guy came up to us and said he wanted a fiver. I give money to the homeless quite often, but this character just seemed to be very aggressive.

"I said: 'I'm sorry, I don't have any money on me'.

"He said: 'I need some money', then asked Nick for some money. He was quite violent with his attitude and became quite aggressive. I looked behind to see what he was doing.

"I thought he was putting a bandage around his fist. I turned away to cross the road. The next thing I remember was something went over my head.

"I turned to look, and something went into my hair. The next thing was I fell straight to the ground.

"I was concussed but I do remember a punch going to my face. There was an immense amount of blood everywhere."

Asked by prosecutor Catherine Donnelly if he was able to see what had hit him, the singer replied: "It felt either like a cosh, or a baseball bat, or a knuckleduster - a metal chain around the fist.

"I felt someone going through my pockets. I had just been paid £200. He took my cheque book, my mobile phone, credit card, and some jewellery.

"Because I am in the music industry, it is of very sentimental value. He took a bracelet off me which Kylie Minogue gave me for my birthday.

"I really do not like violence at all. I really thought I could just go home and just wash the blood off my face and my clothes.

"Nick hailed the taxi almost immediately and I got it into my head I was not going to the hospital, I was going home. But the taxi driver said: 'You are going to the hospital'."

Strange had eight stitches over his right eye, six on his forehead, and four above his lip.

He added: "I thought I had lost sight in my eye because I could not open it for seven days. The hospital wanted to keep me in but I was just wanting to get home and get the blood off my clothes."

He told the jury: "I kept having recurring flashbacks. For some time I became quite like a hermit and would not leave the house."

Jefford, who sat in the well of the court with his grandmother, was named for the first time during yesterday's proceedings, having recently turned 18.

He showed no emotion as his sentence was read out.