A man who threatened and robbed a taxi driver in Leeds has handed himself into the police.
40 year-old, Jabar Ali, held a knife to the throat of private hire car driver, Faisal Mahmood, in the late evening of the 11th of January this year and robbed him of his earnings.
The Ordeal
Prosecutor, Duncan Ritchie, told Leeds Crown Court of how Ali placed one hand over Mr Mahmood’s eyes and a knife at his throat whilst saying: “Give me the money or I’ll cut your throat!”.
In an attempt to stop Ali, a terrified Mr Mahmood pushed Ali’s hand but cut himself on the knife during the struggle. At this point Mr Mahmood gave Ali the £70 from his pocket and he fled the scene.
“Give me the money or I’ll cut your throat!”
The day following the incident, Mr Ali went to his local police station in Dewsbury and admitted everything he had done saying he felt “guilty and ashamed” of his actions.
A Cry for Help
Ali admitted to having a heroin addiction and the attack on Mr Mahmood was a “cry for help”.
Ali’s representative, Franklin Zakers, told the court that Ali was using around £40 worth of the Class A drug each day and he felt that getting himself arrested was the only viable option to sort his habit.
Mr Zakers said: “It’s clear that this was a desperate, and in some respects, rather ridiculous way of crying out for help but he says he was at that time in a very dark place.”
The Sentence
Recorder, Tony Kelbrick, of Leeds Crown Court said that although Ali had pleaded guilty and apologised, it was notable that he had not returned the stolen money. Ali was sentence to three years in prison.