Man Is Locked Up Over Taxi Robbery
3rd September 2008
A convicted robber who held up a cabbie at knifepoint after being released on licence has been sent back to custody for five years.
Kevin Noble was locked up for 18 months in March last year for his part in a spate of robberies, but after being let out on licence he teamed up with his younger brother Jamie and another man to lure taxi driver Shaukat Ali Khan to a Bradford street in the early hours.
Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told the city’s crown court yesterday how Mr Ali was directed to go to John Street to pick up a fare on January 18.
“The address was nothing more than an address used by the defendant and his group to lure the taxi driver to the area and then commit the act of robbery,” said Mr Ahmed.
When Mr Ali arrived he spoke to Noble’s younger brother Jamie about where he wanted to be taken, but when he unlocked his doors Kevin Noble and another man also got into the vehicle.
The court heard there was a tussle between Mr Ali and Jamie Noble over his taxi radio before money was demanded from him.
“The defendant produced a large knife and held it to the complainant’s shoulder or back area,” said Mr Ahmed.
After Kevin Noble made a threat to kill Mr Ali the cabbie handed over two money bags containing about £20 in coins.
Further cash was demanded from the driver and he also handed over about £25 in notes.
“At all stages throughout these demands this defendant held the knife pointed at the complainant’s shoulder,” said Mr Ahmed.
The driver was told to hand over his wallet, but instead he grabbed for the knife, cutting his thumb.
When Mr Ali got out of his vehicle to remonstrate with his attackers they ran off and he was assisted by a householder who contacted the police.
Mr Ahmed said a police dog followed a scent from the scene of the robbery and Kevin Noble was detained in a courtyard area near the junction of Tong Street and Oddy Street.
Mr Ali identified him as one of the men involved in the robbery and Noble was found to be in possession of the cabbie’s stolen mobile phone.
Noble said he was living at a nearby flat and when police searched the property they found a third man and a hunting knife in a bedroom drawer.
Noble, 20, of no fixed address, denied any involvement in the robbery, but having been recalled to custody he was interviewed again and admitted his part.
Noble, who pleaded guilty to the robbery charge in July, said the others wouldn’t carry the knife so he did.
“He said with the proceeds of the robbery they were going to buy some weed and get stoned,” said Mr Ahmed.
The court heard Jamie Noble had received a two-year sentence after he asked for the robbery offence to be taken into consideration.
After being told Kevin Noble regretted his involvement, Recorder Christopher Attwooll sentenced him to five years in a young offender institution, and said that term would only begin after his existing sentence finished later this year.
A third man who was arrested has never been charged.
Source; Bradford Telegraph & Argus
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