Knife-wielding Stockton taxi robber jailed

Lee Wood was jailed for six years and four months

A man who stole a taxi driver's car at knifepoint has been jailed.

Lee Wood, 28, threatened the driver then took his taxi when he fled, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Wood committed the crime in December, just a month after being released from a prison for another robbery.

He was jailed for six years and four months after admitting multiple offences. His accomplice Chelsea Wyatt, 25, was given a community order after admitting stealing £370 from the car.

'Violent and dishonest'

The court heard that the driver went to collect a fare on Ingleton Road in Stockton on 27 December last year and was met by Wood and Wyatt.

The driver asked for money upfront and Wood made as if to pay him but pulled a knife and told the victim to hand over his earnings.

The taxi driver "sensibly" pulled over, escaped from the car and could be heard "screaming" as he fled, Judge Howard Crowson said.

Wood, who the judge said had a history of "violent and dishonest" offences dating back to his youth, got into the driver's seat and drove the taxi away, hitting a parked car in the process.

The judge said the victim ceased working as a taxi driver as a result of the psychological impact of the incident.

Wood, appearing in court via video link from HMP Durham, read from a letter in which he apologised.

'Learned little'

He said he was injured in a car crash in 2019 and had subsequently "done many things" that he previously would not have, including "drastic and impulsive acts".

Wood said he had turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with his injuries, which had led to him needing significant facial restructuring, something of which he was reminded every time he looked in a mirror.

The judge accepted his injuries had had an impact but said Wood had been offending "long before" the crash.

He said Wood had been involved in a restorative justice scheme and had met the victim of his previous robbery. But given the "terrifying" crimes against the taxi driver, appeared to have "learned little from the process".

Judge Crowson said that Wood was a danger to the public.

Wood, who admitted offences including robbery, possession of a knife and dangerous driving, must serve an extra two years on extended licence and was banned from driving for two years with the requirement of taking an extended test.

Wyatt, of Cox Green Close in Stockton, was given a 12-month community order.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Con Ryan Thompson of Cleveland Police said Wood was a "dangerous offender" and that it had been a "terrifying ordeal" with a "lasting impact" on the driver.