Knifeman faces indefinite jail term for attempted robbery of taxi driver
A KNIFEMAN tried to rob a taxi driver weeks after he was released from a nine-year prison term for two knife raids.
Andrew Michael Reed could be jailed indefinitely as a dangerous offender for his latest knife crime. His sentence could hinge on whether a judge accepts his account of events.
Judge John Walford was unconvinced by Reed’s story, saying: “It seems to me rather to fly in the face of reality.”
Reed, 31, claims his attempt to rob cabbie Mehrban Manga was opportunistic and unplanned - not premeditated. Mr Manga, 41, said Reed produced the knife and demanded his takings saying: “Give me all you’ve got.”
Judge Walford said the varying accounts made “a substantial difference to sentence”, adding it could make the difference between a normal prison sentence and an indefinite one.
Reed said he found a knife then pulled it out during a dispute over the taxi fare, Teesside Crown Court heard.
According to Reed he committed the offence “almost by chance”, said Judge Walford.
The judge said: “On the face of it what we have here is the suggestion that, quite coincidentally, this defendant found a knife or picked up a knife which had been dropped. For some reason best known to himself, he decided to keep it.
“It’s somewhat stretching credulity that he suddenly finds himself with a knife and then, opportunistically without prior thought, he suddenly produces it. The taxi driver’s evidence paints a very different picture
The judge added: “Clearly on one view of the facts, an indeterminate sentence is likely, if not practically inevitable.”
Reed still stands by his account. A different judge will hear evidence to determine what really happened in a hearing on Monday.
Prosecutor Adrian Dent said: “This is an attempted robbery at knifepoint, of a taxi driver. He’s admitted that.”
Kieran Rainey, defending, suggested the taxi driver might remember the incident as “more sinister and ominous than perhaps it was”.
Reed, of St Nicholas Court, Grangetown, had denied the attempted robbery charge until this week, when he finally pleaded guilty.
The attempted robbery happened on July 29 last year, just over a month after his release from prison.
In August 2005 he was jailed for nine years for two knife raids in Grangetown. Even then, a judge warned him he could have gone away for life.
The drug addict brandished a kitchen knife in an off-licence and threatened a shopkeeper before escaping with £810 cash. A householder also suffered a stab wound to the stomach after Reed stormed into a home demanding money.
Reed, who has also admitted possession of heroin, is remanded in custody
source:
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/
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