Grifter cons taxi drivers again
THIEF TOLD SOB STORIES TO GET CASH THEN DIDN’T PAY FARES
A KNOWN thief who was banned from booking taxi journeys after repeatedly fleecing cabbies has been up to his old tricks again.
Drug addict Christopher Stuart was jailed and given a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) in 2019 after conning numerous taxi drivers into handing over cash before fleeing without paying his fares.
The 31-year-old used to play on drivers’ sympathy by pretending the money was for his children but instead spent it funding his crack cocaine habit.
The CBO barred Stuart from booking or travelling in any cabs but, less than a year after his prison release, he flouted the ban on three occasions, with two of those involving him reverting to form and conning drivers out of cash.
Stuart, of Turbinia Gardens, in High Heaton, was remanded in custody following a hearing at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of making off without paying for a taxi fare, two counts of theft and three counts of breaching a CBO.
He also admitted separate charges of driving while disqualified, driving with no insurance and failing to give the identity of a driver.
Brian Payne, prosecuting, said Stuart booked a taxi on September 15 this year before then “playing the sympathy card”, conning the driver out of £20 and fleeing without paying the £38.50 fare.
He was then caught another cab on October 22.
On November 24, Stuart again fleeced a taxi driver out of £20 before fleeing without paying his £8.50 fare.
Mr Payne said: “There are 148 offences on the defendant’s record. The headline here is breaching his Criminal Behaviour Order, which was imposed by Newcastle Crown Court in 2019.
“The reason it was imposed was to stop the defendant travelling in taxis. He’s got a very long history of what it known as bilking. In other words, using taxis and making off without making payment.
“Often allied to that is where he spins the taxi drivers a sob story or story of necessity and they lend him money.
“However, he departs the taxi and the money goes with him.”
The prosecutor added: “The taxi drivers give him money in good faith and, of course, he then makes off with the notes. It’s a serial and fixed method of offending.” inside
In relation to the driving while disqualified offence, magistrates were told that he was banned from the roads for six months earlier in the year after totting up penalty points.
However,
Stuart was caught behind the wheel of a Ford Mondeo in Newcastle on July 5.
The court heard that Stuart was a qualified plumber and had led a normal, law-abiding life until he turned 24 and developed a drug habit.
Michael Crowe, mitigating, said: “He was introduced to cocaine and it has been a very significant problem for him since that time.
“He takes crack cocaine, also. His behaviour completely changed. He has been unable to abstain from using drugs for any significant period of time.
“He’s not someone who steals from shops or commits burglaries, his offending is all in relation to taxi drivers. It’s something he’s not proud of and he asks me to say today he’s very sorry for his behaviour.”
Magistrates deemed that their powers to finalise the case were insufficient and committed Stuart to Newcastle Crown Court for sentence on January 21. In the meantime, he was remanded in custody.