A PEMBROKE man has been jailed for trying to rob a taxi driver.

Daniel Mckenzie, 31, of The Green, Pembroke, appeared at Swansea Crown Court on March 15 where he was due to stand trial on a charge of attempted robbery.

Mckenzie had already pleaded guilty to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing but changed his plea on the robbery charge.

Miss Donaghue, prosecuting, told the court that on September 4, 2022, Mckenzie had turned up at his sister’s house in Pembroke Dock and was drunk. She said that his sister wanted him to go away and gave him £5 for the taxi driver to take him away from her house.

While in the taxi, the defendant took a joint out of his pocket and the taxi driver asked him to not smoke it. He responded, “It’s not your car, don’t worry.” And when asked again, he put a lighter to the driver’s throat, saying “watch what I can do with this,” and said he was going to take his money.

Mckenzie grabbed the driver’s throat and punched him in the face. The driver pulled over and got out of the car, telling Mckenzie to get out. He punched him again several times, which led to the driver pushing him to the floor.

When Mckenzie got up, he went to go for the car door, which the driver stood in the way of to block his access to the money.

A member of the public intervened and the police were called, taking the driver to hospital and arresting Mckenzie.

Mckenzie responded ‘no comment’ to all questions and an examination of the driver showed he had gained small lacerations on his face.

Miss Walton, defending, told the court how Mckenzie, who has more than 30 convictions for 54 offences, including one for robbery in 2011, believed that he was supposed to be taken to a garage as that was how far the £5 would take him, but when they went passed, he believed he was being overcharged and ‘saw red.’

She said the defendant was remorseful and since being in prison, has gained work in a privileged position in the prison and wants to be someone his four children can look up to and he has been working on bettering himself.

Recorder Christian Jowett sentenced Mckenzie to 54 months in prison for the robbery and 10 months for the assault, with the sentences to run concurrently and the time he has spent on remand to count towards the sentence.