A 22-year-old man has been jailed for six years for robbing three cab drivers in one weekend.

Ashley Pickup was part of a team that seized the terrified cabbies from behind by the throat and stole their takings.

Pickup, of Harmon Close, Bierley, Bradford, took alcohol and drugs before targeting the drivers late at night, on August 1 and 2 last year, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Prosecutor Simon Myers said the first robbery took place after three men got into Mohammed Iqbal’s cab at 10.30pm on Saturday, August 1. They had asked him to drive from The Prince of Wales pub to Bierley.

Mr Myers said the men made racist remarks on the way.

When Mr Iqbal asked for his £8 fare, he was grabbed from behind round the neck and a weapon held to his throat.

Pickup, the front-seat passenger, elbowed Mr Iqbal repeatedly in the face, went to the driver’s door and stole his phone and £50 in takings.

The team struck again at 3.30am after luring Mohammed Javed to Kirkgate in Bradford city centre. He drove to the Bierley estate where he was robbed of £30.

The third victim, Michael Allen, was attacked at 11.20pm the same day. He collected Pickup and two others in Bierley and drove them to The Tempest pub in Holme Wood.

He was grabbed from behind in a choke hold. Pickup, in the front seat, punched him in the face, blackening his eyes, and snatched his £30 takings.

Pickup was identified by one driver and his fingerprints were found in the cabs.

In mitigation for Pickup, who admitted the offences, his barrister Georgina Coade said they were unsophisticated robberies, committed almost on Pickup’s “doorstep” using local minicab firms. He was very remorseful and determined to free himself from drugs.

The judge, Recorder Dean Kershaw, said they were extremely serious, pre-planned, robberies in which Pickup took a very active role.

“People need to be protected from you,” he said.