A ROBBER has been locked up for his role in a terrifying Kendal taxi hijack.

James Shaw, 23, was one of two men who jumped into David Buck's Skoda Octavia and sped away, leaving the shocked driver stranded.

Shaw was said to have played a secondary role in a crime which occurred in the town on December 19. He looked on as an unknown accomplice, wielding a screwdriver, made threats and ordered the terrified driver to give up his prized £6,000 vehicle and a mobile phone.

MORE TOP STORIES: The taxi was later found by police having been abandoned in Windermere. The accomplice was never brought to justice.

Shaw, of Longlands View, Kendal, admitted robbing Mr Buck and was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court today.

He was sent to prison for a total of two-and-a-half years by Judge Barbara Forrester.

The court heard he had committed robbery while subject to a suspended prison sentence - imposed for an assault on his partner in a Kendal park.