Taxi driver threatened with knife after fare dodger claimed his cash had been stolen

A fare dodger has been imprisoned after threatening a taxi driver with a knife.

In May of this year, David Newsome, 52, who had been given a trip from Hebburn to Jarrow, made threats against the taxi driver. According to Newcastle Crown Court, Newsome entered the house “hoping to find some cash” as soon as they got at the home.

However, the court was informed that Newsome returned to the taxi after being unable to locate any money. Newsome, of Cedar Drive, Jarrow, told the court he was upset and thought someone homeless had stolen the money.

Judge Tim Gittins stated before sentencing: “It is evident that you reserved a cab without having the funds to pay for it right away. When you arrived at your address, you expected to see cash that looked like it had been taken by a man on the streets.”

Judge Gittins stated that Newsome was upset about the money being taken when he got back to the taxi, adding, “if that’s what happened.” He said that Newsome had thrown his temper at the cabbie, saying, “You lunged at him with the knife and pressed that knife towards him several times while making threats towards him.”

Whether Newsome was “carrying the knife anyway, or decided to pick it up when you were in the house, either way you took it to the taxi and threatened him with it,” according to Judge Gittins, was unknown.

Newsome entered a guilty plea to threatening someone with a knife and vanishing without paying for it. He received a 12-month prison sentence.