Taxi Driver Online

Bath Chronicle

August 10, 2006 Thursday

HEADLINE: Five years for hijacker's brutal attack on driver

A robber who hijacked a taxi and beat up the driver before driving the cab into the Kennet and Avon Canal in Bath is beginning a five-year term behind bars.

Liam Corkish was jailed at Bristol Crown Court yesterday and his girlfriend, Michelle Tate, who joined in the attack, was given a four-month prison term. Taxi driver Stuart Starr, from Trowbridge, feared he would be killed when he was ordered out of his cab in a dark country lane at Rode and kicked and punched as he lay in a ditch. His cab was later dumped in Horseshoe Bridge Lock.

Kenneth Bell, prosecuting, told how 40-year-old Mr Starr had been parked outside the Kings Arms public house in Trowbridge on the evening of November 25 last year when the couple got in his cab with a teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons. They asked Mr Starr to take them to a Blockbuster video store just a tenth of a mile away. They then changed their minds and asked him to take them to the Parsons Nose public house in Melksham, where they were hoping to spend the night. However, that was full and Mr Starr was asked to take them back to Trowbridge and then to a Travelodge at Beckington. Mr Bell said they were just a few miles away when Corkish asked what the fare was and was told £22. "Liam Corkish was happy but Michelle Tate was not," he said. "Corkish asked Mr Starr to pull over because he was feeling unwell. "The taxi was almost stopped when Corkish grabbed Mr Starr from behind in a strangle hold.


"Mr Starr could hardly breathe. He said he would gladly take them to the Travelodge and excuse the fare. Mr Bell said Corkish then pulled the driver through the gap in the seats so that the man's head was facing Tate. The woman then punched Mr Starr in the face. The teenager was told to take the driver's mobile phone while Corkish punched him again before ordering him out of the car. "He ended up in a ditch very frightened," said Mr Bell. "Corkish and the juvenile punched him, kicked and stamped on him in the ditch." The two left the driver there and attempted to start the cab. However, they could not operate the immobiliser and had to ask Mr Starr for instructions. The driver then thought he heard Corkish say "make sure he's asleep before we go", and then feared he was going to be murdered. Mr Starr had pleaded to be left alone and said he had a wife and child as Corkish and the teenager then kicked and stamped on his head and body, the court heard The three then left in the taxi with Mr Starr's phone and £190 of his money and drove it to Bath where it was dumped in the canal.

The driver managed to call for help from a telephone box and he was taken by ambulance to the Royal United Hospital. Officers arrested Corkish and the juvenile on December 2 after studying CCTV footage in Trowbridge. A spot of blood found on one of the juvenile's trainers matched Mr Starr's DNA.

Mr Bell said the victim had suffered a broken nose and cuts to his head and right cheek as well as broken ribs. Since his ordeal he said he had suffered headaches, panic attacks and flashbacks and found it difficult to sleep at night. He now only works during the day.

James Lachkovic, defending Corkish, told how the defendant had lost his job and ended up living in a squat where he was introduced to Class A drugs and started offending to fund his habit. Corkish, 35, who has links to the Trowbridge area but is from Tollingon Way, Islington, admitted one charge of robbery and asked for nine domestic burglaries to be taken into consideration.

Jailing him, Judge Thomas Crowther said: "Taxi drivers are vulnerable, particularly at night and particularly in the country. "Not only did you rob him but you left him injured, happily not gravely. He was terrified and understandably so. He had been through an appalling experience."

Tate, 34, who is from the London area but of no fixed address, admitted one charge of common assault. She had already served 179 days in custody and was immediately released from the dock. The teenager admitted one charge of robbery and was told he would be sentenced at a later date.
......................................................