A 31 year old man from Halesowen who terrorised taxi drivers in the area by threatening them with a used needle has been put behind bars for seven years thanks to a police investigation.
David Purcell was convicted for two counts of robbery at Wolverhampton Crown Court, after he threatened the drivers in summer last year.
Purcell, got into the taxi where he held what he claimed was a used syringe infected with the Aids virus to the taxi drivers neck and demanded money. The terrified man handed over cash and Purcell then fled on foot.
He did exactly the same thing on the second occasion; fortunately neither drivers were injured in the robberies.
Officers traced Purcell after working with the owner of the cab firm and linking the phone number they had been called on by the offender to the phone owned by Purcell.
DC Sean Lowe, who led the investigation, said “These serious offences understandably caused a lot of concern amongst cab drivers in the area, who feared the offender would strike again. Thanks to the positive identification by the brave victims, we were able to get this result. I hope the news he has been taken off the streets for such a long time offers reassurance both to local drivers and to the community.”
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