Man sectioned after taxi driver left traumatised in terrifying attempted robbery
Mario Moro, of Monks Lane, Breightmet, was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on February 6, 2025.
He was charged with attempted robbery, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear and possession of cannabis.
Peter Wilson, prosecuting, told the court how on the evening of July 3, 2023, Moro had called for a taxi.
Moro, now 20, was 18 years old at the time of the incident.
The taxi driver told him that he had to finish his cigarette before getting in the car and Moro then changed his mind about his destination.
Moro asked the driver “whether the taxi was a company car” twice and then told him “that he had lost his job”.
The driver asked him what he meant and Moro said he would be “taking the car”.
They pulled up on Starkie Road and Moro “became angry” and “demanded to be taken to his destination”.
Moro reached into his pocket and pulled out a “black gun” which he then pointed at the driver’s chest.
The driver took “just his phone and keys and ran”, leaving Moro unable to drive away because he didn’t have the car keys.
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The driver knocked on a nearby office building for help and a woman who worked there came out.
She saw Moro trying to hide the gun and “thought he was trying to hide something he had stolen”.
Mr Wilson said: “All of a sudden, the defendant dropped the gun – and in the panic of the moment, the defendant dropped the gun again.”
She ran back to her office and called the police who arrested Moro later that night.
Dr Upeksha Nanayakkara told the court that Moro was admitted to the hospital in November, suffering from suspected “schizoaffective disorder”.
She said: “He hasn’t so far displayed any motivation to improve his behaviour or shown any remorse for what he has done since being admitted to hospital.”
Moro told the court that he didn’t feel safe in the hospital and said he had “been stabbed”.
He said: “As soon as I came to this hospital, I have been traumatised, sometimes I don’t even eat.”
Dr Nanayakkara said that Moro had claimed that a member of staff had stabbed him before another staff member stitched him up.
She said there was “no evidence” of this.
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Judge Abigail Hudson said: “On the 3rd of July, 2023, [the driver] had the misfortune to pick up Mr Moro in his taxi.
“As he pulled up, Mr Moro told him needed his car and then told him to get out of the car.”
She said that although the gun turned out to be fake, and an airsoft gun, it was realistic enough that it “must have terrified those who saw it”.
Judge Hudson said: “[The driver] gave up taxi driving after 40 years in part due to this incident – he’s now constantly terrified of his customers.
“It’s accepted that you are, and were, mentally unwell at the time.
“Over the course of the past year, your condition has deteriorated. It’s an affront to a civilised society that it’s taken so long to get you a hospital bed.
“You present in some ways as a stable individual which presents a risk you could be released without sufficient safeguarding, so a restriction order is necessary to protect the public from the risk you present.
“The mental health disorder which underlies your presentation is one that is lifelong and relapsing.”
Judge Hudson imposed on Moro section 37 and section 41 orders under the Mental Health Act, which means he will be held in hospital instead of a prison.
Source – INDIA TV
