TAXI PASSENGER BUNDLED INTO CAR BOOT AND STABBED 4 TIMES
Couple took the police on 84mph chase
A TERRIFIED taxi passenger was snatched from the street and bundled into the boot of a car before being stabbed four times.
Knifeman Henry Parkhurst and car driver Katherine Beckham then took police on an 84mph chase along the A34.
‘Dangerous’ offender Parkhurst, aged 24, has now been jailed for nine years while 27-year-old Beckham was sentenced to four.
Stoke-on-trent Crown Court heard that the victim was left needing surgery for stab wounds.
He is now unable to work or leave the house and the attack has had a ‘detrimental impact’ on his mental health as he didn’t know the person who attacked him.
The court heard the couple saw the victim in a taxi on April 23, last year, and stopped the vehicle.
Parkhurst approached with a knife and demanded that the victim got out before he was pushed inside the boot of the Toyota being driven by Beckham.
They drove to Orme Road, Newcastle, where the victim was stabbed four times by Parkhurst.
Prosecutor Philip Beardwell said that after being told to get into the boot of the car, he heard Parkhurst tell Beckham to drive to his mother’s house and Parkhurst was going to ‘stab him there.’
The court heard the victim managed to get out of the boot and tried to run.
Mr Beardwell said: “The victim ran asking people to call the police. Parkhurst told Beckham ‘Just run the ****** over’.
“The victim got to a neighbour’s house and he did not realise he had been stabbed. He felt light headed and noticed he was bleeding. He was taken to hospital and needed surgery.”
Later police saw the car being driven by Beckham on the A34 and officers ‘had to drive at 84mph to keep up.’
She failed to stop and drove into Orme Road where the stabbing had taken place. Officers followed the car into Wain Avenue where it stopped and Parkhurst was arrested.
Mr Beardwell added: “Beckham said she was in fear of Parkhurst. She said he threatened her with a knife.
“She saw the police but says she was told by Parkhurst he would stab her if she stopped.”
Parkhurst, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to wounding and the possession of a bladed article.
Beckham, formerly of Albemarle Road, Cross Heath, and now of Pickwood Road, Leek, pleaded guilty to kidnap, dangerous driving and the possession of a bladed article. Paul Cliff, mitigating for Beckham, said: “She was in some sort of relationship with her co-defendant. She is a magnet for men who have treated her in a poor way and exploited a vulnerability she may have.”
Judge Fletcher said: “Someone known to Parkhurst was seen in a taxi and extracted from the taxi with threats of violence and pushed into the boot of a car which Beckham was driving. He was stabbed four times by Parkhurst and suffered injuries.
“Parkhurst, you had a leading role. There’s very clear evidence confirming you are a dangerous offender. You do present a risk.”