Three men charged after recent taxi robberies

Three men have been charged after four armed robberies targeting taxi drivers in recent weeks in Newcastle and Gateshead.
 
The robberies were carried out by offenders who initially got into the taxis, acting as fare paying passengers, directing the driver to a destination and then threatening and robbing them of cash and other property. 
 
The first happened on Diana Street in Newcastle, in the early hours of Thursday, October 19,  when a taxi driver was robbed at gunpoint, by two men. Next, a driver was the victim of a knifepoint robbery with three offenders near Priory Court in Gateshead  on Friday morning, November 3. Two further gun point robberies took place in Byker with two offenders responsible, both crimes in the early hours of Monday, November 6, both on Brinkburn Street after they earlier picked up fares from other locations.
 
The taxi drivers targeted in these crimes were shocked by the incidents but otherwise unharmed and have been helping police.
 
Detectives in Newcastle investigating these crimes have charged three men:
 
A 20-year-old man from Gateshead, charged with one robbery, and threatening a person with a bladed instrument.
 
An 18-year-oold man, from Newcastle, charged with three robberies and two counts of possessing an imitation firearm and threatening a person with a bladed instrument, they both appeared before Bedlington Magistrates' on Thursday, November 9.
 
The third man is due before Bedlington Magistrates court today, Friday, November 10. He is also aged 18, from Newcastle, charged with four robberies, three counts of possessing an imitation firearm and threatening a person with a bladed instrument.