Two drunks who hijacked a taxi before burning out the clutch and being forced to flee were locked up.
Phillip Ballard and Shaun Kearns already had suspended sentences hanging over them when when they carried out the robbery in St Helens just before Christmas.
Robert Jones, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court how their victim, Saleh Ahmed, arrived in his taxi at McDonalds in Chalom Way at 4am on December 21 to collect some passengers.
Two young men got in but Ballard and Kearns, who were swigging from a bottle vodka, also climbed in and after a row the other passengers got out.
Ballard told the driver that he had better drive off or he would “kill him” and said he had just got out of prison.
Kearns, who was in the back seat, then told Mr Ahmed that they were going to take his car. They all climbed out of the car and a scuffle ensued which ended with the pair driving away in his Volvo private hire taxi.
But within a short distance Ballard managed to burn the clutch out and they abandoned the car in the middle of Green Leach Lane before fleeing. Police quickly found drunken Ballard sleeping underneath a hedge.
Mr Jones said he was aggressive and had to be overpowered before being arrested. Kearns, 24, was later tracked down and arrested at his home on December 23.
Mr Ahmed was uninjured but was left with a bill of £500 for damage to his vehicle and he also lost £450 in earnings.
Kearns, of Park Avenue, St Helens, and Ballard, 23, of Oak Avenue, Newton-le-Willows, both pleaded not guilty to robbery and breaching their suspended sentences. Ballard also admitted driving without insurance and failing to provide a specimen of breath.
Ballard was banned from driving for four years and Kearns was disqualified for two years.
Jailing Ballard for a total of 38 months and Kearns for a total of 32 months Judge David Aubrey, QC, said that Mr Ahmed had been a vulnerable victim alone at night carrying out a public service.
He said: “The court accepts it was an opportunistic robbery.”
The court heard was told that both men have mental health issues and had been drinking to excess that night.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/