Girl gang terrorised taxi drivers at knifepoint after luring them to fake pick-upshttps://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/m ... s-14788849Month-long reign of terror as victims attacked and robbedPolice have smashed a girl gang which lured taxi drivers to fake pick-ups before the victims were robbed and attacked at knifepoint.
They targeted a string of drivers - ordering cabs and terrorising them when they arrived.
The gang, who were mainly female, carried out their attacks between November 11 and December 4 last year.
Now Xavie Cole, 18, of Swancote Road, Stechford, has been locked up for four years, having previously admitted ten charges of robbery.
A 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sent down for two years and four months after pleading guilty to three robberies.
The first robbery took place on November 11 when a taxi driver was directed to collect a fare from an address in Handsworth and four people got into his cab and asked to be taken to Perry Barr.
When he was asked to stop at a cashpoint, three got out and one brandished a knife.
One of the females in the group punched the victim on the nose before stealing his mobile phones.
Four days later, another taxi driver who was asked to take a group of five to six females to a street in Nechells had an object thrown at his face.
When he got out of the vehicle they drove it away.
After crashing the car a couple of hours later, they approached a student and took his phone after threatening to stab him.
He tried to get his property back but was then forced to go to a cashpoint and withdraw £100.
Almost immediately after that, the gang then boarded another taxi and attacked the driver, trying to take the keys out of the ignition and then dragging him out of the vehicle.
He tried to run away but they caught up with him and kicked him about his body before taking £150.
Christopher Gorman, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said on some occasions the victims had been driving when they felt a combat style knife being held to their throats.
One driver managed to knock the knife away and had tried to drive off with two of the gang in his taxi but was forced to stop the car.
The court heard that another victim suffered a cut to his thumb.
Mr Gorman said the two defendants were arrested after they were identified from CCTV footage at a number of locations.
Passing sentence, Judge Mark Wall QC said the offences took place on seven separate days and involved significant planning.
He said: “The group picked on vulnerable people. All but one were taxi drivers working at night and were in the main deliberately lured to a scene so that they could be robbed.”
He said he had taken into account “personal difficulties” Cole had experienced while Richard Gibbs, for the 17-year-old, said she had shown remorse and was easily led.
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