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The faces of thugs who carried out attacks on helpless North East taxi drivers simply doing their jobs

Faces of thugs who carried out attacks on taxi drivers simply doing their jobs

by · ChronicleLive

These are the thugs who carried out attacks on North East taxi drivers who were just doing their jobs.

One driver was subjected to a terrifying robbery by two passengers during which a knife was held to his throat. Another was forced to flee his cab with a shoe missing after being attacked with corkscrew and threatened with a knife.

A knife was pulled on one taxi driver by a passenger who went on to rob him - he was easily traced by police after ordering the taxi to his home.

A taxi driver who was subjected to a racist attack by a passenger took matters into his own hands to find the culprit who shouted vile abuse at him. He turned amateur detective to track him down on Facebook. A fare dodger took a knife to a taxi driver when he didn't have the cash to pay.

Here we look at the cases before the North East courts in recent weeks.

Dad jailed after targeting taxi driver in terrifying knife-point robbery

A taxi driver was subjected to a terrifying robbery by two passengers during which a knife was held to his throat.
The cabbie was working in the Wallsend area on December 2 2021 when he received a job to pick someone up from Charlotte Street in the town. He got there around 12.40am and Robert Wardle and another man got in.
Wardle, who has new-born twins, had a scarf over his mouth and his hood up. The driver was asked to take them to the cashpoint of a bank on Wallsend High Street and Wardle got out when they arrived there.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the other man asked the cabbie to pull into a side street, saying he didn't want the police to see him and that he had been released from prison following a 12-year sentence for armed robbery. Wardle also said he was wanted by the police.
They asked to go back to Charlotte Street. When they got there, the second man pulled out a knife, reached around the driver's seat and held the blade to his throat. The victim tried to grab it before getting out of the car and running away.
The robbers initially chased after him but then went back to the taxi and drove it away. The car was later found a few streets away but they had stolen his wallet, containing £600 and bank cards, his dashcam, house keys and keys to another vehicle.
The court heard the robbery has had a "profound" impact on the taxi driver.
Wardle, 32, of High Street East, Wallsend, who has 34 previous convictions, was convicted of robbery after a trial earlier this year. While the jury were out, he absconded from court and was on the run for two months and ten days.
During that time, he burgled Heron Foods, in Newbiggin Hall, in the early hours of May 17, stealing alcohol and vapes worth £530. He pleaded guilty to burglary and absconding.
Judge Amanda Rippon jailed him for a total of ten years and ten weeks, with an extended licence period of a further two years.(Image: Northumbria Police)
A taxi driver fled from his cab with a shoe missing after being attacked with corkscrew and threatened with a knife during a terrifying robbery.
The taxi driver was waiting to pick up a fare near Palmersville Metro station, in North Tyneside, around 9pm on April 23 last year when he was approached by the David Ure, Wayne Bellerby and Shannon Tait, who asked him to take them to Forest Hall. He said he was unable to as he was waiting for a customer.
At that point Ure tried to snatch his car keys and Bellerby pushed a knife up to his neck. Ure then produced a corkscrew and jabbed his hand, causing a number of cuts.
Newcastle Crown Court heard both men were shouting that if the taxi driver didn't give them the car keys, he would be stabbed. The victim took the keys and rolled over to the passenger side, losing a shoe in the process, before running to the Metro station to press an emergency button to summon help.
When he looked back, the trio were all in his car, helping themselves to valuables, including phones, a card reader, a dash cam and his wallet. He contacted his employer, who tracked his stolen phone to the nearby Metro station and when police attended, they caught Ure and Tait, who were in possession of some of the stolen property.
Bellerby had gone in a different direction and later that evening attended Innisfree Social Club, in Longbenton. Outside the club, he assaulted another man by striking him repeatedly until he fell backwards and struck his head on a brick pillar, losing consciousness for a time and falling face forward onto the pavement. When another man intervened, Bellerby threatened him with a knife by showing it to him in his waistband.
Ure, 43, of Shields Road, Byker, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to robbery, possessing a bladed article and possessing amphetamine. Tait, 31, of Dunstanburgh Road, Byker, Newcastle, admitted robbery and Bellerby, 42, of no fixed address, was convicted after a trial of robbery, possessing a bladed article, assault, threatening with a blade and possessing a blade and diazepam and cannabis.
Ure was jailed for four-and-a-half years, Tait got five years and Bellerby got seven years. Judge Tim Gittins said the robbery "must have been absolutely terrifying" for the victim.(Image: Northumbria Police)
A taxi driver was left terrified when a passenger pulled out a knife and robbed him.
The 60-year-old cabbie was called to Kieran Elsdon's home in Gateshead on May 30 this year to pick him up. Once inside the car, he ordered him to change route before telling him to get out of the car.
When the cabbie turned to face him in the back, he held a knife to his face and struck him to the cheek, causing swelling to his left eye. The victim jumped out of his car and Elsdon got in the driver's seat and drove away, crashing into a parked car nearby and causing extensive damage.
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Newcastle Crown Court heard Elsdon, 21, of Harvey Crescent, Wardley, Gateshead, was easily traced, having ordered the taxi to pick him up at home. He had stolen £200 in cash from the car and also a vape.
He pleaded guilty to robbery, having a bladed article, driving while disqualified, having no insurance and failing to stop after an accident. He was locked up for 40 months.(Image: Northumbria Police)
A taxi driver subjected to a racist attack by a passenger turned amateur detective to track him down on Facebook.
The victim was working for Blue Line Taxis when he was called to pick up Carl Turnbull and a woman on Raby Way, Byker, Newcastle, around 1am on September 26 2021. Turnbull said he would direct the cabbie to Forest Hall, North Tyneside, rather than giving a destination, and paid a £10 deposit.
The victim said during the journey the defendant made disapproving comments about the number of or proportion of black people or immigrants in the area. In his basis of plea, Turnbull said he "remarked about the West End being multicultural and he says he didn't mean discourtesy but accepts he might have felt some disrespect", the court heard.
Turnbull told him to stop in Forest Hall and was told the bill was £14. The woman with him went to pay with her card but Turnbull stopped her. There was then a dispute about what the fare should be.
Turnbull then got out of the car and called the driver a "black *******" and repeatedly kicked the taxi. He said he was trying to retrieve his phone, which was still inside the vehicle.
The victim shouted for some bystanders to call the police and someone did so and as the sirens approached, Turnbull ran off. The taxi driver suffered a broken little finger and pain to his face and there were dents and scratches to his car.
He found his attacker by searching Facebook for people called Carl in Newcastle, flicking through profiles until he found the face he recognised about a month after the attack.
Turnbull, 32, of Chevington, Leam Lane, Gateshead, who has 36 previous convictions, claimed he couldn't remember using the racial slur but said he must have done so in the heat of the moment as he was angry that his phone was still in the taxi. He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage and was sentenced to 12 weeks suspended for two years and must do a "thinking skills programme".(Image: Northumbria Police)
A fare dodger who threatened a taxi driver with a knife has been jailed.
David Newsome, 52, threatened the taxi driver after receiving a ride from Hebburn to Jarrow in May this year. Newcastle Crown Court heard once they arrived at the address, Newsome went into the property "expecting to find some cash".
But the court heard Newsome couldn't find any money and went back to the taxi. The court was told Newsome, of Cedar Drive, Jarrow, was angry and believed a homeless person had taken the cash.
During sentencing, Judge Tim Gittins said: "What is clear is you had booked a taxi without means to pay immediately on you. You got to your address expecting to find cash that appears to have been taken by a homeless man."
Judge Gittins said Newsome returned to the taxi and was angry about the money being taken, adding: "if that's what happened." He said Newsome took his anger out on the taxi driver, adding: "You lunged at him with the knife and pressed that knife several times towards him while making threats towards him. "
Judge Gittins said it was unclear whether Newsome was "carrying the knife anyway, or decided to pick it up when you were in the house, either way you took it to the taxi and threatened him with it.
Newsome pleaded guilty to threatening a person with a bladed article and making off without payment. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison.(Image: handout)