Nathaniel Stobart: Horsforth Teenage Taxi Knife Attacker is Jailed
27th August 2008
A teenage thug from Horsforth who terrified a taxi driver by robbing him at knifepoint has been jailed for three years.
Nathaniel Stobart jabbed the foot-long blade into taxi driver Mohammed Hanif so hard that he handed over his £300 takings as he feared he would be fatally injured.
Leeds Crown Court heard how Stobart, 17, of Silk Mill Close, Horsforth, had an appalling criminal record which included blackmail, burglary, aggravated vehicle taking and affray dating back to when he was an 11-year-old.
The court heard how Stobart smelled strongly of cannabis when he got into Mr Hanif's cab which he ordered to pick him up at a property on Silk Mill Bank, Horsforth, in April.
Stobart told Mr Hanif, 37, to take him to an address in Rothwell. A short time later Stobart received a text message on his mobile phone and asked the driver to stop at another house where he picked up a young woman.
The pair were then taken to Leygarth Place in Rothwell where Stobart pulled out the knife after Mr Hanif asked for an £18 fare.
Mehren Nessiri, prosecuting, described how Mr Hanif tried to drive away but Stobart managed to get back into the vehicle and said: "Give me your money – where's you money?"
Mr Nessiri said: "The complainant, fearing he would be stabbed, invited him to go get the money himself. The defendant made a jabbing motion with the knife and the complainant gave him £300."
Mr Hanif suffered cuts to his finger as a result of the incident.
Stobart ran off after the attack but was arrested days later when a neighbour in the street recognised him and heard him telling someone about the incident.
The court heard how Stobart had a record of 51 convictions dating back to 2001.
Andrew Stranex, for Stobart, said: "When Nathaniel Stobart is on an even keel he is an intelligent and resourceful young man."
Mr Stranex said he had undergone extensive psychiatric reports which revealed he had no mental illness and had the potential for good career prospects in the future. The court heard Stobart had plans to set up his own landscape gardening business.
Mr Stranex added: "He has finally woken up to the realisation that things can't carry on like this or his sentences will get longer and longer."
Sentencing him to three years in a young offenders institution, Recorder Peter Babb said: "You have an appalling record of previous convictions. People who are a danger to the public are locked up until that danger has passed.
"This is an opportunity for you to begin to mature and put behind you the offending behaviour which seems to have been your only activity in the past five or six years."
Source; horsforthtoday.co.uk
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