Mother In Bid To Rob Cabbie At Knifepoint
8th September 2008
A young mother tried to rob a taxi driver at knifepoint in front of her distraught three-year-old son.
Siobhan O'Connor claimed in court that her lover had persuaded her to commit the offence.
The 24-year-old, who was jailed for three years, carefully planned the robbery and deliberately targeted a driver of a black cab, expecting him to be a vulnerable elderly Asian.
However, the driver turned out to be a much younger man, who put up a struggle and resisted the attack, as the would-be robber's child yelled: "Mum, no, mum, no."
The 28-year-old driver told the police he was scared for his life as O'Connor held a kitchen knife, with a five or six-inch blade, to his throat.
Judge Philip Head questioned whether O'Connor deliberately took her young child with her to lull the victim into a false sense of security, but she claimed she had no choice, as she was unable to get a babysitter.
Alan Murphy, prosecuting, told Leicester Crown Court that, at 9pm on May 9, O'Connor went to the taxi rank in Horsefair Street, in the city centre, and asked to be taken to a quiet part of Wharf Street North, in St Matthew's, Leicester.
On arrival, she got out as if to pay him through the driver's window, which was wound down.
Mr Murphy said: "She produced a knife and put it to his neck, demanding money two or three times in a hard and threatening tone.
"He said he'd just started work and didn't have any.
"He was frightened for his safety and could feel the knife blade under his chin.
"He then grabbed her, knocking the knife out of her hands.
"He could hear the child shouting, 'mum no, mum no'.
"As she bent down to pick up the knife, he drove off."
The driver stopped a police van and pointed out O'Connor.
When arrested, she admitted the offence, showed officers where she had discarded the knife and said she was drunk.
In interview, she said she initially expected the victim to be an easy target, an elderly Asian man, although there was no suggestion of a racial motive.
O'Connor, of Humberstone Drive, Leicester, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery.
Christopher Kessling, defending, said she was "in a position wholly akin to an abusive domestic relationship".
He said: "She was acting under the influence of this other lady, whose idea it was. Between them, they planned the attack."
He said O'Connor's mother, who was in court, was in "genuine shock" and had written a moving letter to the court.
O'Connor was in "a complex psychological state" at the time and under duress from her then partner, he said.
Judge Head said: "The offence is aggravated because of the weapon and it was preplanned at night."
Passing sentence, he said: "It's a desperately serious matter. It was meticulously planned.
"You targeted a vulnerable victim, a taxi driver - people who regularly suffer this sort of conduct - and you had a knife which you produced."
Source; thisisleicestershire.co.uk; Leicester Mercury
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