A knifepoint robber who threatened to cut a taxi driver's eyeballs out before stealing his money bag, phone and cab has been jailed for seven years and four months.
Alexander Hindmarsh, 37, held a blade to the victim's neck, punched him in the face and hit him over the head with a card reader before the driver managed to flee from his taxi in terror. Hindmarsh then sped off in the Hyundai vehicle and was captured on its internal CCTV camera shouting "I've just committed a knifepoint robbery, I will get a hammering for this" and "We need to burn it, our prints are all over it".
The career criminal, whose record spans more than 25 years and includes offences of violence and burglary, pleaded guilty to robbery, arson, aggravated vehicle taking and possession of a bladed article in public. He was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court.
The robbery in Sunderland
Antonia Adie, prosecuting, said the victim was tasked to pick up a fare in the Springwell area of Sunderland at around 5am on August 22 this year. He picked up Hindmarsh and an associate, who asked to go to a local Asda store, despite it being closed.
Hindmarsh, who was the front seat passenger, then instructed the driver to take them back to where they'd come from and agreed to pay him the price of the return journey. However, once he pulled up at the address, Hindmarsh produced the knife and said "You know how it is mate, give us your money bag, I will stab you to pieces, I'm a nutter, I don't f*** about, I will cut your f***** eyeballs out".
The court heard that Hindmarsh held the blade to the victim's cheek and, again, demanded cash and threatened to cut out his eyes. Ms Adie continued: "He struck the complainant across the face twice. He demanded the complainant's phone and password, repeatedly stating "Do you want cutting up? Do you want to end your life for a money bag, you p**** b******?"
Tracking device leads to arrest
The terrified victim managed to flee the vehicle and Hindmarsh drove off. Ms Adie added: "The defendant stated he might take the car for a spin. It was driven away at high speed and the defendant continued to make comments on the dash cam footage."
Hindmarsh then collided with another car and wall before dumping the vehicle in the Bishop Wearmouth area. However, police were able to track him because he had the victim's iPhone 14, which had a tracking device enabled. The taxi's internal CCTV camera was also located near the burned out vehicle.
In a statement, the victim said all aspects of his life had been affected by the robbery. He said: "I have struggled to sleep since the incident. I keep having nightmares about it and waking up in the middle of the night. My wife tells me that I'm often shouting "don't hurt me", which has had an impact on my wife's sleep and health and I have woken up my children with my shouting."
Sentencing and background
Hindmarsh, who has 29 offences on his record, was last locked-up in December 2024 for assault, intentional strangulation and threatening a person with a knife in private and was on licence from that prison sentence at the time of the robbery.
Liam O'Brien, defending, said there was little mitigation that Hindmarsh could put forward, except for his guilty plea and remorse. Mr O'Brien added: "His life is so chaotic. The combination of homelessness, mental health difficulties, not really having had an education to speak of passed the age of 12, not working and not having a strong relationship with family members following the passing of his father in 2020. All these things make it difficult for the defendant to achieve the change he has said he wants to make."
Jailing Hindmarsh, Recorder Simon Eckersley said: "What you did was extremely serious. For many people, life is such that they don't have money to purchase their own home and, effectively, the two most expensive pieces of property that many people own are there car and mobile telephone. For [the victim], his car was the means by which he earned money and provided for himself and his family and his phone was an essential part of his life. In the early hours of August 22, you took both from him. You took his money and phone at knifepoint, using violence to do so, then took his car, destroying it."
Recorder Eckersley added: "You're a high risk of violent reoffending, you're a high risk of serious violence, you're a high risk of domestic abuse, you're a high risk of serious offending and a high risk to members of the public."
