A teenager threatened to cut up a taxi driver and lunged a knife towards him in a row over a fare in Runcorn.
Jack Gilmartin, then 18, had called Apec Taxis on November 5 to travel from his home address on Dover Close, Murdishaw, Runcorn, and travel to Russell Road in Weston Point.
Karl Scholz, prosecuting, said Gilmartin booked the cab in the surname "Cullen".
He told cabbie Robert Hawkins he had no cash and would pay by card but then asked to return to home to pick up something he had fortgotten.
Back at Dover Close, Gilmartin hopped out and returned after four minutes and tried to use his bank card three times to pay but it would not work.
He claimed he would withdraw the cash from a bank in the town centre.
Mr Hawkins declined and asked "Cullen" to leave.
The teenager, a regular cannabis user at the time and three days off his 19th birthday, turned violent.
As Gilmartin was exiting the back seat, he took a swing at the cabbie with a harmless "glancing blow".
He began shouting threats including "I’ll cut you up".
Mr Hawkins got out and headed to the back.
Mr Scholz said: “At that point the defendant pulled out a kitchen knife from his waistband and lunged towards Hawkins, towards the stomach area.
“The lunge didn’t bring him closer than a yard to Mr Hawkins.
“Mr Hawkins told the defendant to go and the defendant ran off.”
When Gilmartin rang Apec Taxis again two to three minutes later from a different number and ordered a taxi under a different name, the police had already been called and followed the cab to Russell Road.
Gilmartin got out and walked towards the shops, "constantly looking over his shoulder at the car pulled over behind the cab".
He then began to "jog" but was caught and arrested.
The kitchen knife was in his trouser pocket and he claimed he "was going to a mate’s to give that back".
He admitted having cannabis and a second blade - a steak knife, and police also found £10.50 in cash.
Gilmartin said he had asked to go back to Dover Close as he had forgotten his cannabis, and when told to get out he called Mr Hawkins a "pr*ck".
He claimed he thought the driver was going to "hurt him" and "produced the knife to scare him off’" but did not want to injure him.
After initially denying making threats, he later pleaded guilty to the full set of charges: two counts of having a bladed article in public, threatening behaviour, and possessing Class B cannabis.
Philip Clemo, defending, was declined a request for a full discount off Gilmartin's sentence, but was successful in arguing for for a suspended sentence.
He said his client was young, of good character with no previous convictions, had a job lined up, had genuine remorse, had cut back his cannabis use, and had moved to live with relatives in St Helens to put distance between him and Runcorn where his problems were rooted.
He said: “He’s living away from the Runcorn area now, that’s where the issues seemed to be.”
He said Gilmartin had a difficult upbringing.
Judge Steven Everett, Recorder Of Chester, sentenced Gilmartin to 14 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
He ordered up to 20 days on a rehabilitation activity requirement, and 120 hours unpaid work.
Sentencing Gilmartin, Judge Everett warned Gilmartin that "knives are always loaded" and added that had he caused an injury and killed the cabbie, he could be facing a life sentence.
He said: “If someone came at you and you pulled a knife out and you struck out and stuck the knife in them, you could have killed them.
“I would now be sentencing you with a whole rack of people in the court including the dock officer and people who would be relatives of the deceased and I would be sentencing you to detention for life.
“You take a life and you’ve thrown your life away at the same time.
“That’s why knives are so dangerous.”
He added: “Let me add something about cannabis.
“Cannabis is not something to 'chill out' with.
“It’s a dangerous drug for various reasons.
“There’s a wealth of evidence it causes mental health issues, and second there’s evidence is causes heart issues, and thirdly it puts you into the drug scene with drug users and at 18, 19, getting involved with drug supply, you’re heading for a life of crime before it’s started properly.
“I’m not impressed that you’re still apparently using cannabis, not impressed at all.”
The hearing was a Chester Crown Court case but sat at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday via video conference.
