Man and woman sentenced to nine years each for series of robberies on taxi drivers in Slough

via taxi-point http://bit.ly/2HQY4ZI

A man and woman have been sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment each for their involvement in four knifepoint robberies in Slough.Fizan Syed, aged 36, of no fixed abode, and Aalia Chaudhary, aged 36, of Minister Way, Langley, Slough, were both sentenced on Friday (25/1) at a hearing at Reading Crown Court.Their sentence was in connection with their conviction by unanimous jury of four counts of robbery following a trial at the same court which concluded on 11 January.Over an 18 month period between November 2015 and May 2017 Syed and Chaudhary were found to have carried out four robberies on taxi drivers in Langley. .The pair would get into the taxis asking the drier to go to Langley.Syed would sat directly behind the drivers, while Chaudhary sat in the other rear passenger seat.She spoke to and engaged the driver in conversation and when they arrived at their destination Syed placed his arm around the neck of the driver and placed a knife to their necks.Chaudhary then searched the taxis, taking items such as money, wallets and other items of value before the pair ran away.Two of the taxi drivers sustained cuts to their faces as a result of the robberies, but have since recovered from their injuries.Following an extensive investigation, officers tracked Chaudhary and Syed to an address in Langley.Chaudhary was arrested on 8 June 2017 and Syed on 9 June 2017. They were both charged on 17 October 2017.Investigating officer Detective Constable Edward Elms, of the Investigation Hub based at Slough police station, said: “Chaudhray and Syed targeted taxi drivers in the late evening and lulled them into a false sense of security and then robbed them at knifepoint.“These were despicable acts on people carrying out a service to the public and I am satisfied that they have both been given a significant sentence.“Thames Valley Police will strive to work to bring offenders to justice in this way, especially for offences such as this which cause a lot of concern and impact to the public.“I want to thank the victims and witnesses who assisted with these investigations and hope this case will encourage others with any information relating to criminality, or witnessing crimes, to come forward so that we can work together to reduce crime and bring offenders to justice.”

January 31, 2019 at 08:16AM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT