Four years for bogus cabbie

An unlicensed minicab driver has been jailed for four years for robbing comic Greg Burns.

Adio Kolex, 33, was convicted after Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how he locked the stand-iup in his car and demanded: "Give me more money or I'm going to kill you."

Burns, who picked up the Honda Civic at 4am in Camden, handed over his wallet.

Kolex, of White City, had claimed that Burns enlisted his help to buy crack cocaine and, after smoking some of it, became paranoid and ran off.

But the court rejected his version of events, and today convicted Kolex of the robbery in November 2003.

Burns, who is also a DJ on Heart 106.2, said: "Every weekend thousands of us use unlicensed mini cabs as a way to get home, knowingly or otherwise.

"I hope this case, as well as taking an obvious danger off the streets, acts as some kind of warning. If you have any doubt about the legitimacy of the cab, it's just not worth the risk."

Published: 26 Mar 2004