A 17 year old Luton teenager, who robbed three taxi drivers in the town in a matter of weeks, has been sent to a detention centre for the next three years.
In two of the robberies the boy, who can’t be named for legal reasons, lured the drivers to a spot in Dunstable Road.
In the third robbery last September, he lured a taxi driver to outside the Luton and Dunstable Hospital.
At Luton crown court, the tearaway appeared for sentence having pleaded earlier to robbing a driver on August 29 last year of £150.
He pleaded guilty to a second robbery carried out on September 21 in which he had snatched £45 from another driver.
And finally he admitted robbing the driver he had lured to the hospital on September 22 of £45.
Recorder Timothy Clark was told that in the first two robberies, the teenager had produced a knife and held it to the face and throat of his victims, causing terror.
In the final holdup he had grabbed the driver around the throat and caused a small cut with his finger nail to the man, behind his ear.
Warwick Aleeson defending, said the boy had been brought up in a succession of care homes since the age of seven
Later he had fallen into bad company and it was against that background the offences had been committed.
Passing sentence the recorder told the teenager “These were robberies of taxi drivers serving the public and two of the robberies involved you pulling out a knife and holding it to their throat and face.
“They must have been terrified.”