Masked attacker jailed for stabbing 'brave' East Devon taxi driver
A masked attacker has been jailed for stabbing a brave taxi driver who fought him off as he tried to snatch his takings. Peter Hall targeted cabbie David Bowditch as he returned to his taxi after buying chips from a seafront cafe in Seaton, East Devon. He demanded that he hand over all his cash but Mr Bowditch refused and pushed Hall away before the two men grappled with one another.
Hall stabbed him with a wooden-handled knife and left him with a three centimetre deep wound under his arm which narrowly missed vital organs. The robber was wearing a scarf which covered his face and a hat pulled down over his face to try to hide his identity from the victim and CCTV which covered the area. Hall was desperate for money to buy drugs and had been hanging around a nearby cashpoint before he saw Mr Bowditch pull up at the chip shop.
Hall, aged 40, of Hawkwell Caravan Site, Axminster, admitted robbery and having a knife and was jailed for five years by Judge Geoffrey Mercer, QC, at Exeter Crown Court. He told him:"You armed yourself with a knife and went to rob a taxi driver. The knife was produced and you stabbed him under the armpit, causing a wound which could have caused much more serious that it was."
Mr Brian Fitzherbert, prosecuting, said Hall had been looking for dog ends with a friend called Ryan Gooding when he said he intended to carry out the robbery on the evening of January 28. Mr Gooding did not want to get involved and went back to his home nearby while Hall waited beside the taxi as the driver fetched his chips.
Mr Fitzherbert said:"As the driver opened the car door he found Hall right up in his face telling him to hand over his money. Mr Bowditch was not going to stand for that and pushed him away saying 'no chance'. "There was a scuffle and, unknown to Mr Bowditch, Hall had a knife and stabbed him under the arm pit. He thought he had just been hit until he saw the blood."
Hall went into the nearby Royal Clarence flats, where Gooding was staying, and dumped his disguise before fleeing out of a fire escape. He was identified and arrested and the folding knife was found wit its blade bent. Mr Bowditch needed treatment for a wound in his side but after making a statement to police he told them he wanted to get straight back to work.
Mr Paul Grumbar, defending, said Hall had been a highly successful baker who made award winning wedding cakes before developing a heroin addiction as a result of accidentally taking the drug at a rave. He said on the night of the attack he and Gooding had both been 'clucking' with withdrawal symptoms and he was desperate for money to buy drugs. He has now come off all drugs while on remand in prison and his skills as a baker have been put to use in the kitchens.
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