Two teenagers who robbed a taxi driver at knifepoint after getting into his cab in Huddersfield have both been locked up by a judge.
Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday that the driver got a booking to go to an address in Bradley at about midnight on July 15 last year.
Javaun Gray and Brandon Sedgwick-Boyle got into the rear of his vehicle and initially gave him one address but both were talking about Bradford and said they had changed their minds and wanted to go there instead.
Michael Greenhalgh, prosecuting, said the driver agreed and was about to get on to the motorway when the pair changed their plan again and asked to go to the original destination.
But as they were driving there he was asked to pull up in a layby and was asked how much they owed. At that Gray leaned over and held a knife to the driver’s throat.
He could not see the weapon but felt the blade at the side of his neck. Gray told him to hand his money over or said he would stab him.
At that the driver handed his cash over to Sedgwick-Boyle and the pair ran off. The driver was shocked and notified the police who traced the pair to a friend’s house in the early hours.
The court was told they had not planned a robbery but did not have enough money with them when they extended their journey.
Jeremy Barton for Sedgwick-Boyle said he was only 17 at the time and had expressed genuine remorse for his actions. He had health and emotional issues since the death of his father in a car crash when he was young and would sometimes “make wrong decisions.”
The court was told Gray had previously lived in Huddersfield and was visiting his grandmother at the time and had gone out socialising with friends. He accepted holding the knife but had never been in trouble before and regretted his actions.
Sedgwick-Boyle, 18 formerly of Sherwood Avenue, Bradley, admitted robbery and possessing an offensive weapon and was given 18 months in a young offender institution.
Gray, 19, of Raby Street, Wolverhampton, admitted robbery and was sent a young offender institution for two years.
Judge James Spencer QC told them taxi drivers provided a public service often alone at night. “You have got to learn, and if it means learning the hard way, that this kind of thing cannot be tolerated.”
