Would-be taxi thief foiled by ex-boxer driver

Darren Stephen Ferguson, from Woodland Avenue in Belfast, was handed a six-month sentence after he admitted a charge of attempting to hijack the vehicle in the early hours of September 20 last year.

Belfast Crown Court heard the incident occurred when a topless Ferguson tried to stop a woman leaving a party. However, when 28-year old Ferguson made a grab for the taxi driver’s arm and said “I am going to hijack your car”, the driver “dealt with it in short order.”

As well as being handed a six-month sentence, Ferguson had an additional three months imposed as he carried out the attempted hijacking whilst under a suspended sentence for an unrelated offence.

Crown prosecutor Gareth Purvis said the incident occurred at around 5am in the Lavina Square area of the Ormeau Road.

When the taxi arrived at the address, two women and a bare-chested Ferguson were standing in the street. Telling the court that Ferguson was in an “extremely aggressive state”, Mr Purvis said that after the girls got into the car, Ferguson ran towards the vehicle.

He then opened the driver’s door in an aggressive manner, and grabbed the driver’s arm. The driver - described in court as a former amateur boxing champion - was able to “deal with” the situation. As the taxi drive away from the area, Ferguson kicked out at the vehicle.

Defence barrister Martin Morgan said that in terms of an attempt hijacking, this incident was “not the most serious”, adding: “This was a drunk man whose motivation was to stop a girl from leaving the party. He went back into the party and was identified by police later from a tattoo on his chest.”

Revealing that the taxi driver made “short shrift” of the attempted hijacking, Mr Morgan described the entire incident as a “very short affair”. He also said his client was “extremely intoxicated”, the incident was “totally unsophisticated”, and concluded “it was not planned at all.”

He was sent to jail for nine months by Judge Gordon Kerr QC.