A couple have been jailed after they robbed a terrified taxi driver at knifepoint in the early hours while high on drugs.

Drug addicts Veran Toomey and mother-of-two Billy-Jo Ellis were on their way to “score” when they committed the offence.

They threatened cabbie Uldash Sadeqi with a knife and fled with about £80 - only to be tracked down by a police dog.

Toomey, 38, and 25-year-old Ellis, previously of Devon Close, Chatham, admitted robbery and having an offensive weapon.

Toomey, who once ran his own business, was sentenced to three years and nine months and Ellis to three years.

Maidstone Crown Court heard they called for a taxi to Delce Road, Rochester, at about 1.30am on September 27 last year.

They asked to be taken to a medical centre, despite Mr Sadeqi telling them it would be closed.

"Taxi drivers provide a service to the public and are at risk from those who prey upon them" - Judge Julian Smith

Prosecutor Andrew Collings said when they arrived there and it was shut, the taxi driver asked for his £8.50 fare.

They did not have enough money, so Toomey handed over a bank card. It was declined and Toomey asked to go to a cashpoint.

They drove to a petrol station in City Way, where Toomey pretended to use a card to draw out money from an ATM - described by a judge as a “pantomime”.

“He returned and told Miss Ellis he had no money,” said Mr Collings. “She said ‘Give me that’ and was making stabbing motions.

“Mr Toomey passed her the knife. She pointed it at Mr Sadeqi and said in no uncertain terms: ‘Give me the money.’

The victim managed to flee from the cab and call the police. Toomey and Ellis were arrested soon afterwards.

Mr Collings said Ellis, who left school with 12 GCSEs and went to work in New Look in Chatham, was subject to a drug treatment order at the time.

Toomey had 23 previous convictions for 58 offences, including Gbh, possessing drugs and handling stolen goods.

Judge Julian Smith said they had committed two serious offences.

“Taxi drivers provide a service to the public and are at risk from those who prey upon them,” he said.

“It was a relatively spontaneous offence. A knife was available. There is a description of a pantomime taking place, pretending to use an ATM.

“The taxi driver had his wits about him and quickly got out of the car and phoned the police.”

Toomey was more “criminally sophisticated” than Ellis. There was a distinction between them to reflect the personal mitigation, he added.