Teenagers who lured cabbies to housing estates to rob them at knifepoint sentenced to a total of 17

Two teenagers who lured taxi, private hire drivers and delivery drivers to a housing estate before robbing them with knives and fake guns have been sentenced to a combined 17 years in jail. Tyreece Clarke and a 16-year-old accomplice, who can’t be named for legal reasons, carried out six robberies over a 10 day period at the Lion Farm estate in Oldbury, a Black Country housing estate. During one of the robberies which took place on April 12, the pair called for a cab to come to the Lion Farm estate where they were waiting in ambush. Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that the attackers demanded money before the younger robber stabbed the driver twice in the chest. As reported in the Express and Star, Clarke pleaded guilty to two robberies and was found guilty by a jury of four robbery charges, possessing an imitation firearm and three charges of possessing a bladed article. The younger attacker pleaded guilty to one robbery charge and one charge of possessing a bladed article. He was found guilty by a jury of robbery, wounding with intent and a second charge of possessing an imitation firearm. He was acquitted of two robberies that Clarke had made alone, possessing a bladed article and possessing an imitation firearm. Judge Amjad Nawaz said in relation to the stabbing incident:

"You could not know what injury you were going to cause, it could have resulted in death, but you were willing to take that chance. "The driver hadn't realised he'd been injured, he just thought he'd been punched. "Only when he got out and was seen by others he realised he was bleeding. "The two blows entered his chest cavity, there was blood in his lungs and he was in hospital for some time. "The psychological aspect is that he will never overcome it."

Clarke was sentenced to 12 years in custody by Judge Nawaz, while the 16-year-old was handed five years and four months.