The Brussels Criminal Court on Monday sentenced a man in his twenties to 20 months in prison for a violent robbery at a shop in Rue Neuve in February.
The incident occurred on 4 February at the Inno department store, when the man asked a sales assistant to show him a watch worth €440, then immediately grabbed it and tried to run away.
The assistant raised the alarm and a bystander stepped in to stop him. However, the man then pulled out a small bottle and tried to throw its contents at the witness.
The smell quickly showed that the liquid was ammonia, but no one was injured.
A search after his arrest showed that he had also stolen a pair of glasses worth €160 from the same shop.
The man's criminal record included several convictions for violent theft.
The defence had hoped the court would impose community service instead.
The defence attorney argued that, because his client was stopped before leaving the shop, the offence should be treated as attempted theft rather than theft.
The defence also said the man denied deliberately throwing the bottle of ammonia, claiming that it had fallen from his trousers.
The court ruled that the facts were too serious to justify either community service or a suspended sentence with probation.
