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don't know if we have done this one but here goes.
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Daily Post (Liverpool)
November 8, 2008 Saturday
Mersey Edition
11 years for armed robber who targeted taxi drivers; One victim 'felt coldness of the barrel
A 26-year-old man who robbed five Merseyside taxi drivers at gunpoint was jailed yesterday for 11 years.
John Muldoon carried out the offences - and an attempted armed robbery at a garage in Maghull - over just seven weeks ending in January.
Jailing him Judge David Aubrey, QC said: "These offences were planned crimes of the utmost seriousness. You are a ruthless individual. It was a campaign of terror of vulnerable victims, taxi drivers.
"You directed them to isolated and desolate areas and you instilled fear and apprehension in the dead of night.
"An aggravating feature was that you put the gun to a victim's head and he felt the coldness of the barrel. Another you dug it into his neck and another into his ribs.
"The court must stamp out offences of this nature."
Muldoon, of no fixed address, had pleaded guilty to six robberies and six offences of possessing an imitation firearm with intent.
Henry Riding, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court Muldoon ordered taxis from different locations within Merseyside including Southport, Maghull, Huyton, and the city centre, and asked to be taken to various destinations.
When in an isolated spot Muldoon, accompanied by another man, then produced a gun, threatened the frightened driver and stole the car and contents.
On January 18, he went to a garage in Liverpool Road North, Maghull, produced a gun and his accomplice produced a knife but they fled empty-handed after the assistant pressed the panic alarm.
His 19-year-old cousin Stephen Black, of Boode Croft, Stockbridge Village, who pleaded guilty to his involvement in one of the offences, was sentenced to 21 months' detention.
Nigel Power, defending, said that the weapon involved was an imitation and Muldoon had assisted police in recovering it.
Muldoon, who had a drugs problem, had not actually used violence and wished to apologise to his victims, he said.
Defence barrister Simon Driver said that Black had been under his cousin's spell and on New Year's Eve had been with him when Muldoon carried out one of the robberies, which he had not known was going to happen. After the hearing, DCI Paul Hesketh said: "The sentencing of these two men sends out a strong message to those involved in gun crime.
"Merseyside Police is committed to taking those involved in gun crime off the streets and this action is supported by sentencing such as this."
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