Drug addict was knocked out by Delta Taxis driver after gang choked him with his seat belthttps://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... i-14769770Joanne Moore and her gang of three accomplices were fought off by brave Eze ChukwuembaA drug addict who punched a taxi driver in a bid to rob him of his takings was jailed.
Eze Chukwuemba, 37, was attacked by passenger Joanne Moore after picking her and three men up in Scargreen Avenue, Norris Green at around 1.45am on Friday, May 26 last year.
The group, including Anthony Catharell, Thomas Gillon and Saeed Ali as well as Moore, choked him with his seat belt before he was repeatedly hit and threatened with knives, crutches and scissors.
But the Delta Taxis driver stopped them stealing his car, out-punched the gang and even knocked Moore unconscious.
Moore, who was found guilty of robbery after a trial, failed to attend court when her three co-defendants were sentenced in April and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Liverpool Crown Court today heard she was at large for 24 hours in what the judge, Recorder Mark Jewell, QC, described as a "pretty deliberate failure to attend".
The court was told Moore, 40, of Scargreen Avenue, has been on a detox programme in Styal Prison in an attempt to stop using drugs and is making good progress.
Rebecca Smith, defending, said: "It is correct to say the lady who appears before you is a much different lady than the one who appeared before the trial.
"She has completed a six-week detox programme and is the healthiest and fittest I have seen her.
"She is a team leader for the gardens at Styal and is someone who is a role model for the other women."
Miss Smith argued Moore's violence during the attack was of a "minimal nature" and the taxi driver on one occasion struck her when she posed no threat to him.
Jonathan Rodgers, prosecuting, told the court Moore has a previous conviction for robbery, "in quite different circumstances", from May 2012.
In April Recorder Jewell jailed Catharell, 41, of Scargeen Avenue, Norris Green, for four years and 10 months; Saeed Ali, 41, of Verulam Close, Toxteth , for four years and Gillon, 47, of Haven Road, Aintree, for three and a half years.
Catharall, who brandished a six-inch knife during the attack, was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a knife, possession of a bladed article and criminal damage.
The court was told Moore, 40, called the taxi and asked the victim to take them to a cash machine in Muirhead Avenue East in West Derby .
The group withdrew cash, but when they returned, the driver felt front seat passenger Gillon’s hand brush against his arm, and they launched an attack on him.
Mr Chukwuemba sustained minor injuries but no longer feels able to work in Norris Green .
Moore, who admitted a bail offence, was sentenced to four years in prison.
The judge referred her to his remarks upon sentencing the other defendants, when he said that the group took advantage of the taxi driver's vulnerability working in the early hours of the morning.
He told Moore: "The four of you were all involved in this offence together.
"I am pleased to hear of the progress you have been making at Styal.
"I share, for what it is worth, your hope that when you come out you are drug free and able to remain drug free.
"If you can do that the offending you have been committing should stop. That is in your interests as well as the public's."
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