Passenger threatened to kill Leeds taxi driver unless he handed over his takings

Serwan Ali and a second man flagged down the cab outside Leeds College of Building on Cudbear Street in the early hours of August 24 last year, and asked to be taken to Harehills Lane in Harehills.

But they then told the driver to stop on Baywater Road in Harehills where the driver asked for the fare, prosecutor Daniel Ingham told Leeds Crown Court.

At that point 22-year-old Ali said: “Give me your money.”

When the driver refused, Ali replied: “I’m not asking you again, otherwise I will get physical.” He then began flailing his arms around while the second unnamed man warned the driver: “Just give him the money.”

Luckily, the cabbie spotted a police parked up nearby and drove towards it, stopping next to the van, as the two men made the threats to kill when they realised what he was doing.

While being detained, Ali became abusive and called the officer a “white n*****”. He was found with tramadol tablets in his pocket, and more were found after he was strip searched at the station.

During his interview, Ali denied trying to rob the driver, calling him a “f****** liar”, and claimed they only told the driver they had no money for the fare.

Ali, of Scot Lane, Wigan, later admitted attempted robbery, racially aggravated public order and possession of Class C drugs.

The court was told he had six previous convictions for 11 offences and was on two suspended sentences, one for possessing an offensive weapon.

Mitigating, Emily Hassell said Ali She had come to the UK from Iraq illegally on a lorry when he was 16.

He admitted he was under the influence at the time, had been drinking and could remember “very little” of the offences. She said he had been given tramadol after a dental procedure, but continued to source the drug for pain relief after his prescription had finished.

Explaining the abuse to police, she said this was caused by the handcuffs being too tight on Ali, but was stopped by Judge Andrew Stubbs KC, who said he had seen the body-worn camera footage and appeared to dismiss the claims. He said: “The least said about that, the better.”

Judge Andrew Stubbs KC told Ali it would be an immediate custodial sentence and sad: “Your intention was to not go anywhere, your intention was to rob the taxi driver. You threatened him with violence and you did everything you could have possibly done to take his money.

"Luckily for him there was a police van nearby. Having been arrested, you subjected the police to a foul-mouthed torrent of abuse. To make your position worse you were, at the time, subjected to two suspended sentences. At 22, you have been given chances and not taken them. Your chances, I’m afraid, have run out.”

He jailed Ali for 24 months in total, made up of 21 months for the latest offences, while activating three months of the previous suspended sentences he had received.