JUST DESSERTS... FOUR YEARS’ JAIL FOR ROBBER WHO HELD UP GREENOCK TAXI DRIVER AT KNIFEPOINT
A skull-masked rob- ber who held up a cabbie at knifepoint in a premeditated ambush has been sentenced to almost four years in jail. Lee Gray had his lower face obscured with a skeleton jaw print design hoodie as he jabbed a six- inch kitchen blade against the ‘trauma- tised’ cabbie’s torso during the terrifying incident. Gray, 37, who has seven previous con- victions for serious violence and weap- ons offences de- manded the 52-year- old driver’s cash box before fleeing with just £41.50. He had been re- leased early from a previous jail term
and still had more than a year of it to run when he carried out the robbery in April. Greenock Sheriff Court heard how he summoned the taxi to an address sepa- rate to his own on the street because his house had al- ready been ‘black- listed. Prosecutor David Glancy said: “The driver parked up and first became aware of a male approaching the vehicle and trying to open the rear door behind the driver’s seat. However, cen- tral locking had been deployed and the accused had to come to the front passenger door.
“As he got in he stated: ‘This coron- avirus is murder’ before producing a kitchen knife with a six-inch blade and stating: ‘I want your money box’. “The accused then rummaged around the taxi while press- ing the tip of the knife into the driv- er’s torso.” The court heard how Gray then leaned across the cabbie, still holding the blade against him, and grabbed the cash box from the door pocket before fleeing. The driver alerted the police and after an extensive search they found the empty cash box from ground directly
THUG PUNCHED MAN AND TOOK DRIVER’S PHONE IN NORTH WALES
A man attacked a member of the pub- lic, fracturing his rib, for not giving him enough money whilst begging out- side a pub in Towyn, North Wales. Then later in the evening, the man called a taxi and during the journey picked up the driv- er's phone, and offered it back to him in exchange for cash. The driver handed over £35, but he kept the device anyway and walked off. Sean Eryl Hughes, 22, from Barrow in
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Furness, appeared before Mold Crown Court on 11 August, where he admitted charges of blackmail and
unlawful
wounding. Sentencing Hughes to a 20 month jail term, suspended for two years, Judge Nicolas Parry said: "This can only be described as ex- tremely nasty, as well as very serious violence. “You were on bail and you carried out two attacks on two total strangers, one of whom was offer- ing you nothing but
kindness and sup- port. The other was a public servant car- rying out his work.” Hughes was also ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work, on top of 42 outstanding hours from a previous order. In a victim impact statement read out in court, the taxi driver said it was the first time he had felt threatened while driving taxis. On top of the sus- pended sentence, Judge Parry also ordered Hughes to pay £37 in compen- sation to the cabbie.
behind Gray’s house. The skull print hood- ie was found during a search of the property. The Sheriff told Gray: “You assaulted and robbed a de- fenceless taxi driver using a knife. The
victim, I am told, was traumatised by your actions. Taxi drivers at this time were operating as a vital part of the key worker network dur- ing lockdown. “You are 37 and have an appalling
record, with this being your eighth indictment matter.” Gray was sent to prison for the re- maining 393 days of his previous sen- tence and a further 1,001 days was imposed on him.
RACIST CORNWALL THUG ATTACKED TAXI DRIVER
Magistrates have slammed a racist thug who launched a ferocious attack on a taxi driver. CornwallLive reports that Andrew Robert Leslie Knight, 46, attacked Osman Yavuz in Saltash on September 8 of last year. Knight, from Salt- ash, recently ap- peared for sen- tencing at Bodmin
Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to assault. Magistrates ruled that the offence was racially aggravated and said that “there is no place for racism in this country” and they “treat the of- fence seriously”. The court heard how Knight landed a headbutt and kicked the taxi driver victim while he was on the
floor with a shod foot, outside li- censed premises and in front of Mr Yavuz’s father. Knight was sen- tenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. He must complete 120 hours’ unpaid work and pay Mr Yavuz £150 compensation plus costs and a £122 victim sur- charge.
JAIL FOR ESSEX PASSENGER WHO TRIED TO STEAL MONEY BAG
A taxi passenger who didn’t have enough money to pay his fare has been jailed for 24 weeks after he tried to steal the driver’s money bag. The East Anglian Daily Times reports that Le Surf, 22, from Thorpe-le-So- ken, pleaded guilty at Ipswich Crown Court to attempted theft that happened on December 15. Sentencing Albert Le Surf, Judge David
Goodin described his behaviour as “disgraceful”. “You got into the taxi without enough money to pay for it and the taxi driver was a bit miffed. Taxi drivers like all public servants must be protected from this sort of be- haviour,” said the judge. The prosecutor, said Surf had contacted friends during the journey asking for money but still
couldn’t pay so he tried to grab the driver’s money bag and during the tus- sle the driver suf- fered minor injuries. Stephen Page, for Le Surf, said that when he couldn’t pay his fare the driv- er seized his phone and Le Surf had grabbed his ignition keys because he wanted his phone back. He said Le Surf had been in custody since December.
SEPTEMBER 2020
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