A ROBBER has been jailed for seven years after snatching £60 in cash from a taxi driver as he held a knife to his face.

Mitchell Rhodes, from Westcliff, held his head in his hands as he and two others - Jordan Collins and Landen McCarthy - were sent down.

They robbed a taxi driver at knifepoint in Swindon, on March 1.

Audio from a CCTV camera on a nearby house captured the moment Westcliff man Rhodes, 27, got into the passenger seat behind the driver, placed a blade to his face and shouted: “Give me the f***ing money now, give me the money.” Collins acted as lookout and McCarthy stood by the cab door, preventing the driver from escaping.

His victim, whose interview with detectives was played to the jury, said to police: “I told him just take anything you want. Just take, but don’t hurt me.”

Rhodes stole around £40 to £60 from the cab armrest, before fleeing with his two co-defendants in a Fiat Punto.

The jury took two hours and 40 minutes to find Rhodes, who has a previous conviction for robbery and attempted robbery, guilty by a majority verdict of ten to two.

Prosecutor David Scutt told the sentencing hearing: “It’s said by the Crown the robbery was planned and orchestrated by Mr Rhodes. He was assisted by Mr McCarthy and Collins.”

Clare Fear, mitigating for McCarthy, said he had seen his life fall apart since the offence. His father had been shot dead on his doorstep in Ireland in a case of mistaken identity and he had recently become a father.

Rhodes, of no fixed address, was sentenced to seven years and one month’s imprisonment.

McCarthy, who admitted the charges on the day of his trial, received five years and three months’ imprisonment. Collins, of Clemence Street, Tower Hamlets, was jailed for three years and seven months.

Judge Taylor, sitting at Swindon Crown Court, said: “You, Mr Rhodes, are of noticeably large stature and would undoubtedly be intimidating.

“Couple that with the aggression, the shouting and the menacing presence of Mr McCarthy – again, somebody who is very tall – blocking the means of escape it is bad enough.

“But when you reflect the fact the taxi driver was pulled back into his seat by you, Mr Rhodes, before holding a knife to his face, threatening to cut him up it is understanding in his interview he said he feared for his life.”