Taxi driver stole drunk passenger's phone to buy TVs, trainers and McDonald's

A taxi driver preyed upon a drunk passenger by stealing his mobile phone and using it to buy televisions, a pair of Adidas trainers and a McDonald's.

Edward Marshman charged his customer, who was making his way home from a gig at O2 Academy Liverpool, twice for the £50 fare after the man who was in a 'sorry state' managed to pay using Apple Pay. The driver then made off with his iPhone before going on a spending spree totalling more than £1,500, Liverpool Echo reports.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday Andrew Gibson, who was 'very intoxicated', had left a concert early on December 1, 2022, after going to see indie band the Reytons at the city centre venue. Gibson left to go to bathroom four songs into the set, recalling that "next thing he was aware of" was being driven home by Marshman in his taxi.

Sarah Gruffydd, prosecuting, described how he paid the £50 fare using Apple Pay on his mobile when he got home to St Helens. But the driver, from Walton, "told him that the transaction had not gone through and asked him to pass him his phone".

When Mr Gibson did so, Marshman "shouted at him to get out of his taxi" and drove off with the device still in his possession. The victim woke up the following morning and "realised what had happened".

In the meantime, the thief had used his phone to make 13 separate fraudulent transactions totalling £1,568. These included a second £50 fee for the journey, a purchase from Tesco, two Polaroid TVs, a pair of Adidas trainers, a Ninja blender, a pair of headphones, alcohol and food from McDonald's.

The taxi fare had been paid into an account in Marshman's name, while the 49-year-old was also caught on CCTV buying the goods. When police officers attended his home on February 10 last year, they discovered the televisions, trainers and blender as well as two bags of cannabis and a quantity of cocaine.

Under interview, he gave a prepared statement claiming the TVs were "not linked to the offence" and said the white powder was "not Class A drugs". Marshman also fell to be sentenced for an incident on February 16 this year, when he was stopped by police patrols while cycling on Hazelhurst Road in Walton and found in possession of a further amount of cocaine inside a man bag.

The dad has a total of 15 previous convictions for 33 offences, including for drink and drug driving. Tom Watson, defending, told the court: "This is a man with many problems and many difficulties, most of which relate to his rather troubled mental health.

"It is just a life that is spiralling out of control. Ripping off a customer who was vulnerable in his cab - there is no nice way to say it, it is pretty appalling behaviour. His poor father is sitting at the side of court. He comes here to support him on his crutches and is deeply concerned for his son.

"This is a shock to the system for them, that this defendant's life is taking the turns that it takes. He did go a few years where he managed to stay out of trouble. One cannot imagine that he will ever have a taxi licence again. One would be horrified to think so, and it seems highly unlikely."

Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: "Whilst you were working as a taxi driver, you collected a fare who was clearly very much under the influence of alcohol - so much so that he missed most of the concert that he was attending and was in a pretty sorry state when you dropped him off at home and sought to collect his fare.

"He was able to pay the £50 fare with Apple Pay on his mobile phone, but you quite dishonestly took advantage of his condition and abused the position of responsibility you occupied. You bought items that were not items of necessity, but items of luxury. This was a despicable series of offences.

"I accept that you have issues, but you have shown a complete lack of interest in or willingness to work with the probation services to address them. There was a high degree of trust and responsibility reposed in you, and you targeted a vulnerable victim."

Marshman admitted fraud, theft, possession of cannabis and two counts of possession of cocaine. He was jailed for 58 weeks.

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