Three jailed for taxi driver robbery

Scott Alfrey

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Three Littleborough men who robbed a taxi driver at knifepoint have been jailed for a total of nearly 17 years.

Omaar Shamim (born 28/07/88) of South Row, Daniel Newall (born 24/12/88) of Victoria Street, and Scott Alfrey (born 30/08/88) of Hare Hill Road, were each jailed for five-and-a-half years.

All three had pleaded guilty to robbery at an earlier hearing before Bolton Crown Court.

They subjected their victim, a 58-year-old taxi driver, to a terrifying ordeal during the early hours of 16 July 2007.

The taxi driver picked up Shamim, Newall and Alfrey from Bare Hill Street, Littleborough, and they asked him to taken them to the King William pub.

When they arrived at the pub, the front seat passenger said he needed to get some money, got out of the car and walked round to the driver.

At that point the back seat passenger pulled out a knife and held it to the taxi driver's throat and demanded cash. His accomplice pulled out another knife and waved it in front of his face.

The victim was then dragged out of the car. He tried to defend himself using a pocket knife, but the robbers assaulted him and forced him to the floor.

One of the robbers took the car keys out of the ignition.

The taxi driver was then forced to walk at knife point down a dark cobbled path. Fearing for his life, he clambered over a wall and ran through a field.

He was chased, knocked to the floor by the trio and assaulted again.

The robbers searched his pockets and took his mobile phone and cash. The victim was left with injuries to his face, chest and ribs.

His car was later found abandoned.

Analysis of Alfrey's mobile phone revealed that shortly before the robbery several calls were made to local taxi firms. Shamim's bankcard was found near the abandoned car and the knife was found in a nearby field. The knife matched a block found at Newall's home, which was missing a knife.

Detective Constable Ben Harris, of Rochdale CID, said: "Alfrey, Shamim and Newall are thugs who had planned to rob a taxi driver and they were prepared to resort to violence just to get their hands on a relatively small amount of cash.

"It left the taxi driver feeling extremely afraid and he is still feeling the psychological affects of what he had to endure when he was simply going about a job he had done in Littleborough for many years. In fact, he has not been able to return to work after this attack.

"He confronted the offenders. Although his actions seemed brave, the outcome could have been a lot worse, so I would urge anyone that may find themselves in a similar situation not to put themselves in any more danger but to call police."