Bettws man menaced taxi driver with air gunA NEWPORT man who threatened a taxi driver with what he thought was a shotgun after refusing to pay a fare has been set back to jail.
Lee Davies, 52, was sentenced for the incident which occurred outside his home on Livale Road, Bettws, at Cardiff Crown Court .
The court heard how he actually pointed an unloaded air pistol at Mohammed Chowdry after becoming angry and aggressive over a £6 fee.
Prosecuting, Marion Lewis said Davies told Mr Chowdry: “‘If anyone messes with me, I shoot’. Mr Chowdry believed it was a real gun.”
Ms Lewis said Davies - who has 15 convictions for 43 previous offences, including a possessing a firearm - had started a “strange and worrying” conversation during the taxi ride.
“He said he had served a ten-year prison sentence and that he had previously been a boxer, showing him his clenched fist,” she added.
But when Mr Chowdry asked Davies for the fare, Davies first ignored him and then became angry, phoning his partner in the house to say: “Open the door and bring my gun.”
Ms Lewis said Mr Chowdry had first thought Davies had a toy gun, but he panicked when the pistol touched his arm he realised it was metal.
After the matter was reported to the police, Davies was arrested and a black firearm with a tin of pellets was recovered from the recycling bin of the house.
Davies pleaded guilty to a count of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and a count of possessing a firearm when prohibited from doing so.
Defending Davies, Laurence Jones said: “It is clear this was a very frightening incident for the taxi driver, and he is remorseful for that.
“It was not an unlawful weapon and he did not think he was in breach in possessing it.
“Since his release from prison in 2008 he had made a good job of rehabilitating himself. He had got himself a partner and a home and things were looking stable.
“He knows that with these inexcusable actions he has thrown that all away.”
Judge Daniel Williams said: “I accept the firearm was not loaded, but it is an aggravating feature that you inflicted terror on Mr Chowdry, who was carrying out a public service.
“People who carry out a public service need the protection the courts can give them.”
Davies was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, concurrent on both counts.
source:
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/g ... un/?ref=nt
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