A man who threatened a Worcester taxi driver with a knife during a robbery has been jailed for six years and four months.
Paul Sheward, 38, of no fixed abode, admitted robbery and two counts of possessing a bladed article in a public place at an earlier hearing in March. He was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday, 14 October 2025.
Armed robbery on Foxwell Street
The incident occurred around 7 pm on Friday, 13 September 2024, when Sheward and an accomplice targeted the taxi driver on Foxwell Street. Believing the driver had drugs in his car, the pair confronted him, and Sheward pulled a knife.
The terrified driver handed over about £100 in cash and a mobile phone before Sheward fled on foot.
Swift police response and CCTV evidence
Responding officers quickly recovered discarded shopping near the scene. CCTV footage from the Tesco store on London Road showed a man matching Sheward’s description buying identical items shortly before the attack.
Detectives were able to positively identify Sheward from the footage, leading to his arrest three days later on Monday, 16 September, when he was again found carrying a knife. He was subsequently charged with an additional count of possessing a bladed article.
Court sentencing
At Worcester Crown Court, Sheward received six years and four months in prison for robbery, along with concurrent sentences of eight and ten months for the knife offences.
Police statement
Detective Constable Cameron Chamberlain, of Worcester Reactive CID, said:
“Violent offenders and bladed articles have no place in our communities, and this court result shows we will always seek to prosecute those committing such offences and bring them to justice.
“Sheward’s cowardly robbery on the taxi driver has rightly seen him given more than six years in prison and is another knife-carrying criminal off our streets.”
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