Knife-wielding robber jailed after taxi attack

A man who robbed a taxi driver at knifepoint, causing him to fear he would be "stabbed to death", has been jailed.

Adam McDonnell, 30, came up behind the taxi driver, who was parked in London Road, St Ives, Cambridgeshire at about 07:00 GMT on 13 December.

He slashed the hands of the driver after holding a knife to his throat, taking his mobile phone and two packets of cigarettes and demanding money.

McDonnell, of no fixed address, appeared on Wednesday at Cambridge Crown Court, where he was jailed for 11 years.

Cambridgeshire Police said the taxi driver told McDonnell there was money in the boot and locked himself inside while he went to look.

McDonnell smashed the car windows to get back inside and the victim escaped to a nearby house to call for help.

CCTV captured McDonnell entering a nearby garage before heading towards Dunnock Way.

Officers found him hiding inside the loft of a property, alongside blood-spattered clothes he was wearing.

In a separate incident, on 3 September, McDonnell was wearing a balaclava when he went up behind an 85-year-old man in Berman Park, St Ives, hitting him and stealing his drone.

He was arrested in the town centre where a drone was found in his backpack.

At court, he was sentenced to 11 years with an extended licence period of five years after admitting two counts of robbery and one count of possession of a knife in a public place.

Det Con Kieran Wickens said: "This was a terrifying experience for both victims. The taxi driver genuinely feared he was going to be stabbed to death in his taxi, while the elderly victim was left battered and bruised.

"While crimes like this are thankfully rare in Cambridgeshire, they are very frightening for victims."

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