Man jailed for robbing taxi with fake knife

Two taxi drivers were held up by a man who wrapped a remote control in tin foil to disguise it as a knife

A man who held up two taxi drivers while armed with a remote control wrapped in tin foil was jailed yesterday.

Scott Taylor admitted targeting two drivers – arming himself with a phony weapon and demanding cash after being picked up.

In the first robbery he managed to make off with £30 but was foiled in the second when his female victim told him off.

Depute fiscal Saima Rasheed told Dundee Sheriff Court that Taylor admitted to police upon being caught that he had shaped tin foil around a remote control to make it look like a knife.

She added: “He said it was never his intention to harm anyone.”

In the first incident Taylor was picked up at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and asked to be taken to a city centre pub.

But just after leaving the hospital Taylor had driver David Mcmanus pull over while he went to get money and a key.

Moments later he re-entered the cab and pulled what appeared to be a knife from his holdall and held it to Mr Mcmanus’s stomach, demanding cash.

As he made off with £30 Taylor said: “That’ll do. I’m sorry, I’ve just been sanctioned, I’ve not eaten for three days.”

Two days later Taylor targeted Lynne Cowan after calling for a taxi to pick him up at an address in Dundee’s Dee Gardens under a fake name.

Taylor got in the taxi and said he wanted to go to the Fintry area of the city.

He then pulled out his remote control knife and demanded money – but because he was the first fare of her shift Miss Cowan said she didn’t have any.

When he again made his demand she shouted at him and he ran away

Taylor, 33, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to robbing David Mcmanus on May 31 and attempting to rob Lynne Cowan on June 2 in the Charleston area of Dundee

Defence solicitor Mike Short said Taylor had been in a desperate situation when he carried out the attacks.

He said: “He had addiction problems and was constantly being threatened. He was in debt – though the debt was not his.

“He is embarrassed by his behaviour and has managed to rid himself of his drug addiction in custody.”

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael jailed Taylor for 20 months.

He said: “These were two very serious offences. You targeted two taxi drivers at relatively late hours.

“The didn’t know you were holding a remote control adapted to look like a knife. They simply knew it was a weapon and they were being threatened with it.”