In the footage, 22-year-old Patrick Gunar can be seen walking down the street before suddenly turning around and grabbing the young girl on the street in broad daylight.

He forces the girl down to the pavement in Derby.

After a 25-second struggle, he pulls the phone from her hand and ran off with her iPhone 6S.

In court, Gunar claimed he had been held at gunpoint and forced to inject drugs into himself before being instructed to carry out the robbery, the BBC reported.

But he later admitted to officers he thought the victim was “easy prey” because she was “just a little girl”.

The distressing footage was widely shared online, including by celebrities with high profiles like cricketer Michael Vaughan and British TV presenters Gaby Roslin, Nick Knowles and Piers Morgan.

It inspired a crowd-funding page to provide the girl with free self-defence classes, which raised over $AU3600.

In a personal victim statement, the girl described how she was now too afraid to go outside “in case they were going to get her again”.

But she also expressed gratitude to the public.

“I would like to thank the public for all the support I have received,” she said. “The heart-warming comments mean a great deal to me and my family.

“The public reaction really raised my self-confidence after I initially felt very low following the incident.”

She also thanked the police, and added that she was “blown away” by the donations.

“It means I can replace my phone, replace the clothes I was wearing and so much more.”

The mother added: “I would just like to say a big thank you to all the people that reacted to the police’s plea for help.

“My daughter was very shaken by what happened, but the support and generosity she has been shown has been amazing.”

Judge Nirmal Shant told Gunar: “What can be seen on screen is that you were determined to get (the phone) off her despite her best efforts to stop you from doing so.

“You held on to that phone while you ragged her about on the floor. She continued bravely to hold on to her phone but you carried on.”

The court heard Gunar had been introduced to heroin in 2016, and was using methadone at the time of the attack.