Man held bread-knife to taxi driver's throat and demanded 'take me anywhere I need to go'
A man held a bread knife to the throat of a taxi driver and demanded to be taken "anywhere I need to go" before stealing his phone.
Luke Moore had had a bust-up with his girlfriend before storming away with a knife and subjecting a taxi driver to a terrifying robbery on January 18, last year.
The 26-year-old left the driver "extremely frightened" before he managed to summon help from passers-by.
Moore appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for robbery.
Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said the offence happened when the taxi driver had pulled over at the back of the Smith's Arms pub in Billingham in order to use the toilet.
But before he could even get out of the vehicle, Moore approached him, opened the driver-side door and "held a knife to his throat".
He demanded the driver "take me anywhere I need to go", before getting into the vehicle.
The "extremely frightened" driver took off in the direction of the A1027 and towards the A19, and during the journey, Moore "demanded" the driver hand over his iPhone and told him to tell him the pin.
The court heard that the driver described Moore as being "worked up, in a fit of rage" and that he seemed "as if he was ready to kill someone".
Moore told the driver to take him to his home address in Roseworth, but as the driver approached a set of traffic lights, he decided to "draw attention to the vehicle" in order to get help.
He began driving "somewhat erratically" and started "beeping his horn" before getting out of the taxi and shouting for help.
Passers-by then called the police.
Moore then walked off, discarding the phone and the knife in the process.
Fortunately, no physical injuries were caused to the driver, save for some "minor abrasions" on his neck.
The court heard that Moore "clearly regretted his actions immediately" and called for an ambulance himself and confessed to what he had done before telling them he had "taken an overdose".
When police arrived to arrest him, he was taken straight to hospital as a precaution.
He told officers that he had earlier had an "argument with his girlfriend" before grabbing a bread knife and leaving the address.
Richard Bennett, defending, said Moore "deserves significant credit for his early guilty plea".
The court heard that Moore suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and that he was on medication that should not be taken with alcohol.
At the time of the offence, Moore, who was described by a doctor as a "vulnerable young man" had taken "drugs, alcohol and tablets".
Recorder David Gordon sentenced Moore to 30 months in prison.
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