Posted on the 6th October 2025 in PHTM News

SEVEN YEARS' JAIL FOR MAN WHO ROBBED CABBIE AT KNIFEPOINT AND DEMANDED HE GET INTO BOOT

A Hull taxi driver's life was "shattered" after a menacing passenger threatened him with a kitchen knife, demanded cash, and then ordered him into the boot of his own car during a terrifying early-morning ordeal.

Dale Allison, 43, of Hull, was jailed for seven years and two months after admitting to robbery and causing criminal damage. He pleaded guilty on the day his trial was due to start.

The terrifying incident began when Allison booked a taxi in the early hours of March 25. Prosecutor Nick Murphy told Hull Crown Court that after arriving at the Boothferry estate, Allison refused to pay the £8.20 fare, instead pulling out a knife and pointing it towards the driver's chest, telling him: "Just give me everything you have."

After taking the driver's cash, Allison forced the man to drive to a nearby Asda car park, where he detained him for about 40 minutes.

Mr Murphy said: "The defendant ordered the victim to get out of his car to get into the boot."

The shocked driver "bravely refused" the order and managed to flee the scene before flagging down a second taxi driver for help. Allison followed the victim and stabbed the rear tyre of the second taxi driver's car before disappearing.

The victim's impact statement revealed the "devastating" effect of the crime.

"I couldn't sleep for a couple of days after the incident due to constantly reliving what had happened," the driver said, adding he felt "utterly powerless" during the ordeal.

He testified that the robbery had "shattered my confidence and my ability to do my job" and forced him to consider leaving the profession he loved. "The stress and strain of this whole ordeal has left me a shadow of what I was before," he stated.

In mitigation, Rachel Scott conceded that it was "terrible offending" but argued the robbery was not planned, given Allison had booked the taxi in his own name.

However, Judge John Thackray KC condemned the vicious attack on a vulnerable worker.

"All offences of robbery are serious but this is a particularly serious example," the Judge told Allison. "Taxi drivers play an extremely valuable role in society... They inevitably work alone and are therefore, to a degree, vulnerable."

The Judge highlighted the prolonged threat, noting: "He must have been terrified. Brandishing a weapon as you were, he was undoubtedly terrified of what was going to happen to him and he bravely refused to get into the boot and managed to escape."

Allison was later arrested and initially denied the offences, claiming the two drivers were involved in a conspiracy to rob him. He had 19 previous convictions, including for assault and theft.


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