Boy knocked unconscious by alleged iPhone thief

A six-year-old has allegedly been knocked unconscious by a man fleeing after stealing a phone.

Justin Corona walked in to the Vodafone store at Lidcombe Shopping Centre yesterday and asked to buy a new phone.

But when the stolen credit card and fake ID he was using were declined, the 30-year-old grabbed a $2000 iPhone and sprinted.

Vodafone employee Jonathan Lee chased Corona.

As the pair ran through the crowded shopping centre, Corona allegedly collided with a six-year-old boy and knocked him out.

The boy's distraught mother picked him up off the floor while other shoppers tackled the phone thief to the ground.

"Tackled him down there and a few passers-by were helpful enough to help me grab him down," Mr Lee told 9News.

"I took the phone back and I called the police straight away."

Corona was arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, stealing, dishonestly obtaining property by deception and two counts of goods in custody.

He appeared at Burwood Local Court this afternoon and pleaded guilty to all charges except the assault of the boy.

He applied for bail but it was refused.

The magistrate cited his "history of dishonesty" and "drug use".

The boy was taken to the Children's Hospital at Westmead and has since been discharged.

This afternoon his family told 9News he's doing well.