Daventry man jailed for five years for "nasty and sustained attack" on a taxi driver and police

A Daventry man punched a police officer in the face as he tried to escape arrest for assaulting and robbing a taxi driver.

Jay Samuel Trew of Butlin Close, was finally detained after being Tasered and jailed for five years at Northampton Crown Court.

Trew, 26, denied robbery and two counts of assault against an emergency worker following the incident last August but was found guilty following a four-day trial.

The court heard that Trew got a taxi from Northampton town centre to the village of Old In the early hours of August 26. When they arrived at his then address, Trew told the driver he did not have the money to pay the fare and he needed to get a credit card from inside his house.

The driver waited for ten minutes before knocking at the front door. Trew came out of his house and punched him several times to the face then leaned into the taxi and stole about £35.

When the police arrived at the house, they found Trew hiding under a mattress. During the course of resisting arrest he punched an officer several times to the face before being Tasered.

Trew was taken to Kettering General Hospital where he assaulted another police officer by spitting in their face.

A judge last week jailed Trew for five years and ordered to pay £50 compensation for the robbery. He was also sentenced to two months to run concurrently plus another two months to run consecutively for the assaults against the emergency workers.

Detective Constable Andrew Scott, who led the Northamptonshire Police investigation, said: “This was a nasty and sustained attack against a taxi driver and police officers who provide a valuable service to the public.

“The sentence passed by the courts today should sent a clear message that attacks of this nature are taken very seriously and will not be tolerated.”