JUST DESERTS


KNIFEPOINT ROBBER SENTENCED TO 76 MONTHS IN JAIL FOR ASSAULTING CABBIE IN WORCESTER


Paul Sheward, 38, has been sentenced to six years and four months in prison at Worcester Crown Court for a knifepoint robbery and assault on a taxi driver. Sheward, of no fixed abode, previously pleaded guilty


to


robbery and two counts of possession of a bladed article in a public place. The attack, which involved an accomplice, occurred around 7pm on September 13, 2024, on Foxwell Street in Worcester. The assailants wrongly believed the driver “had drugs in his car.”


Sheward threat- ened the driver with a knife, stealing “around £100 cash and a mobile phone.” Police were able to identify Sheward after finding “discarded shopping” at the scene. CCTV footage from the Tesco on London Road showed “a man matching the attacker’s description purchasing the shopping,” which led to his positive identification. Sheward was arrested on


September 16, 2024, where he was “again found to have a knife on him,” resulting in the second bladed article charge. He received six years and four months for the robbery,


with


concurrent sentences of eight and ten months for the two counts of possession of a bladed article. DC Cameron Chamberlain com- mented: “Sheward’s


cowardly


robbery on the taxi driver has rightly seen him given more than six years in prison and is another knife carrying criminal off our streets.”


KNIFE WIELDING THUG JAILED AFTER THREATENING TO KILL MIDDLESBROUGH TAXI DRIVER AND FAMILY


A Middlesbrough taxi driver was subjected to a terrifying ordeal when a passenger, Wakahs Nawaz, punched him, produced a four- inch knife, and threatened to kill him and his family. The incident occurred on May 3 this year after the driver picked up Nawaz from the Longlands Hotel. Initially speaking in a “conversational tone,” Nawaz, who was intoxicated on drink or dugs, became violent after failing to get money from a cash machine. According to prosecutor Rachel Butt, Nawaz “became aggressive and accused [the victim] of sleeping with his mother” before making “a threat to stab and kill not only him but his children and his mother.” Nawaz then punched the cabbie, leaving him “dazed, confused and scared,” and produced a knife,


32


threatening to stab the victim and saying “he would be buried today,” Ms Butt told the court. The driver managed to escape the vehicle after Nawaz was distracted, but not before Nawaz threatened to “rape his daughter,” Ms Butt said. Nawaz then drove off in the taxi, which contained the driver’s phone and car key. Another taxi driver stopped and helped the victim contact police. The mobile phone was tracked and Nawaz was arrested. The victim said in a statement that he has been living in fear for himself and his family since the attack: “He made threats towards me and my family,” and “I honestly


believe if I had not got out of the taxi when I did, he would have stabbed me.” Teesside Crown Court heard Nawaz had 23 previous convictions from 43 offences which include battery, causing actual bodily harm and inflicting grievous bodily harm. He pleaded guilty


to making


threats to kill, assault by beating, possession of a blade in public, stealing a motor vehicle, and theft from a person at Teesside Crown Court.


Judge Joanne Kidd told Nawaz she considers him “a real and serious risk” of similar offending, especially until he abides by a drug-free lifestyle. He was handed an extended sentence of six years, consisting of four years in custody and two years on extended licence.


NOVEMBER 2025 PHTM


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