A TAXI driver feared for his life after being faced with an uzi submachine gun during a robbery, a court heard.

Taxi driver Vincent Taylor said: "I believe if I hadn’t handed over the money, they would’ve shot me".

Defendant David Taylor, 18, of Trent Road, Bettws, denies charges of robbery and possessing an imitation firearm with intent.

Jury members at the trial in Newport crown court were told co-defendants Steven Gorry, 21, of Bryn Bevan, Brynglas and 17-year-old Richard Mitchel, of Clist Road, Bettws, have admitted the offences.

Driver Mr Taylor was called to a job in Brynglas Court, Newport, at around 1.20am on August 1.

A statement read in court said Mr Taylor stopped when he saw a young man he believed to be his fare. The man approached asking if he could take him somewhere.

The driver then heard another man’s voice telling him to hand over his money and turned to see the barrel of a gun.

The armed man told him to get out of the car and empty his pockets while the other searched the taxi. Mr Taylor gave them around £29 and they snapped the key in the ignition, telling him not to tell anyone or they would kill him.

The jury was shown the weapon and told it was a deactivated Uzi submachine gun, later found dumped close to the nearby bank of the River Usk.

Mr Taylor said: “Throughout the incident I was terrified and feared for my life."

He added all he could recall was the gun, but the men wore hoods and scarves over their faces. Mr Taylor said although he only saw two men he “sensed” a third.

Robert Buckland, defending, said the jury must be certain there was a third man involved and if so, whether evidence proved it was Taylor.

Brynglas Court resident Robert Duggan said he saw three men acting suspiciously opposite his flat shortly before a taxi pulled up.

He said two of the three men approached the vehicle and one had a machine gun, with a frame-design fold-away handle and a magazine.

Taylor told the court he was asleep at a house party during the time of the robbery.

"I remember waking up on the settee... it was 1.58am," he said.

DS Faried Taleb said CCTV footage taken from a 24 hour garage around an hour after the robbery showed Gorry and Mitchel, but not Taylor.

A 16-year-old witness, who cannot be named, said he saw Gorry, Mitchel and Taylor together before the incident.

The same boy overheard Gorry the previous day saying he needed money and telling a group, including Mitchel and Taylor, they needed to rob a taxi driver.

Proceeding.