Taxi Driver Online

5 towns again

Drugged-up teenager Bradley Rushton pointed a gun at a taxi driver's face during a terrifying robbery.

The 18-year-old pulled out the BB gun from his pocket and threatened to kick a busker's teeth outside the Co-op in Fenton.

And about an hour later he flagged down a taxi driver in Blurton, sat in the cab and stole the driver's mobile phone after hitting him on the head with the gun.

He was arrested after putting the weapon to his own head and mouth.

Now Rushton - who has served the equivalent of a 32-month jail sentence on remand - has been handed a three-year community order at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Caroline Harris said the defendant approached a busker outside the Co-op in Fenton at 6.45pm on November 25, 2019.

Miss Harris said: "The defendant approached and said, 'What the **** are you looking at'?

"He called him a beggar and a tramp. The busker asked why he was bothering him. The defendant threatened to kick his teeth in.

"The defendant lifted a flap on his pocket and showed the busker a gun. He pulled it out.

"He continued to be volatile and aggressive."

At 7.30pm the defendant was in Blurton and waved at a taxi. The cabbie stopped and the defendant approached the front passenger door.

Miss Harris said: "The driver wound down the window. As soon as he did this the defendant started to shout, 'Get out the car'. He shouted it repeatedly.

"The defendant opened the passenger door, sat in the front passenger seat and told him to get out the car. He pulled out a black handgun from his pocket and pointed it towards the driver's face. He believed it to be real.

"The driver was screaming and pressed the car horn to alert passers-by.

"He managed to grab the gun. The two men grappled. The driver let go of the gun and the defendant used it to strike him across the forehead. The driver was covered in blood.

"He was left with a three-inch cut which needed three stitches.

"The police arrived. The defendant got out the vehicle and ran off. Officers caught up with the defendant who put the gun to his head and mouth and then to his head again.

"The police told him to drop the gun.

"The gun was recovered and was a ball bearing firing gun.

"The taxi driver's phone was recovered from the defendant."

Rushton, of Willeton Street, Bucknall, pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said the defendant, who had taken MDMA (ecstasy) when he committed the offences, has already served the equivalent of a 32-month sentence. He argued a community order was a suitable disposal.

He said the defendant is a 'vulnerable young adult'. so vulnerable he points guns at people

Mr Muldoon added: "He is adamant he is not going to go back to custody. He is adamant he can comply."

As part of the community order Rushton must complete a six-month electronically-monitored curfew from 7pm to 6am and a rehabilitation activity requirement for 40 days.

Judge David Fletcher said the offences happened when the defendant was aged 17 and four months. He said: "The busker was extremely frightened. He was not to know what was being pointed at him was nothing other than a real firearm.

"Later that evening you found yourself with the taxi driver. You robbed him at gunpoint and you hit him with the same imitation firearm causing a scar to his forehead which required three stitches.

"He was very upset at the time. He was crying and screaming out and was extremely frightened.

"You have spent 16 months in custody."

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

And it won't be the last time he ends up there.

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IDFIMH