Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver feared for his life after convicted armed robber Liam Thompson threatened him with 9in knife and ‘Taser

https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/ ... and-taser/


Image: South Wales Argus

A TAXI driver thought he was going to die after he was threatened with a nine-inch knife during a terrifying armed robbery.

Liam Thompson also warned cabbie Shahbaz Ahmad he was carrying a gun and a Taser during his horrific ordeal in Newport.

The 29-year-old defendant was jailed for 10-and-a-half years last August for an armed raid at a Post Office counter at a Spar store in the city’s Chepstow road when he threatened two petrified shopworkers with an imitation pistol.

Thompson, of Elgar Avenue, Newport, will serve a further four years behind bars for robbing Mr Ahmad after he was sentenced by Judge Jeremy Jenkins at the city’s crown court.

Prosecutor Kathryn Lane said the taxi driver had picked up the defendant on Corporation Road at 3.30am on May 30, 2018.

Thompson had asked to be taken to Vaughan Williams Drive in Alway, asking Mr Ahmad to jump a red light on the way.

When they arrived at the destination, the defendant pulled a nine-inch knife on his victim.

Miss Lane said: “He said to the driver, ‘Give me everything you’ve got. I have a gun and a Taser.’

“Mr Ahmad told him he didn’t have any money as he had just started his shift. Thompson said, ‘I need some notes.’”

She told Judge Jenkins how the victim handed over £20 and that the defendant then used what looked like a Taser against his victim.

Miss Lane added: “He put it towards the driver’s torso and face. He pressed a button but no electricity came out.

“Thompson patted down Mr Ahmad’s shirt and trousers before he exited the taxi and the complainant drove away to escape and he called the police.”

The prosecutor said detectives traced the defendant through the mobile phone call made to book the cab and the victim picked out his assailant during an identification parade.

Miss Lane said that Mr Ahmad revealed to the police he had feared for his life.

She told the court: “He said he had been frightened and believed if he hadn’t had given the defendant money he would have been seriously injured or killed.”

Judge Jenkins, who had sentenced Thompson for the armed robbery at the Spar store in January 2018, heard he had 33 previous convictions for more than 100 offences.

These included aggravated vehicle taking, handling stolen goods and conspiracy to burgle.

The defendant, who appeared in court via a video link from Cardiff Prison, asked to speak to the judge and told him: “I want to say I was off my head on drugs. I am sorry for all this badness I have caused.

“I really need you to know I was in a bad place. I want to say I’m sorry to the people I have caused harm to.”

Thompson’s barrister, Gareth Williams, added that his client had endured a “difficult upbringing” and suffered from mental health problems “exacerbated by him taking drugs”.

Judge Jenkins told the defendant: “This was a serious offence. Mr Ahmad was a public servant who was in a position of vulnerability.”

He sentenced Thompson to four years in custody consecutive to his earlier armed robbery conviction for which he received an extended prison sentence for the public protection.

A thug, a thief, a scumbag, but also as thick as pigs sh**.

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IDFIMH