A TAXI driver felt he was running for his life after being subjected to a terrifying late night armed robbery.

Dilsher Razvan had just begun his shift and his first call took him to Archers Road where two men and a woman were standing outside a house.

David Potter suddenly opened the front passenger door, uttering a remark which the cabbie could not understand, before Danny Carroll opened the driver's door.

Prosecutor Siobhan Linsley told the city crown court that as Libby Middleton-Payne yelled encouragement, Potter demanded his money and Connor preventing the victim from getting out of the vehicle, took his keys.

He then tried to go through his pockets but Mr Razvan managed to push him away and ran off, unaware that in the commotion Potter had produced a nail file which he had thrust towards his throat.

After the trio fled with his float containing £35-£40, Mr Razvan called the police on his mobile phone and in a nearby flat arrested Connor. Potter was detained the following day at his home.

Mr Razvan, a cabbie for three years, told police he had been shaken and angry at what happened. "I felt I was running to save my life."

Initially he cut down his working hours and though they later increased, they were still not back to normal.

Ms Linsley commented: "He was vulnerable working alone at night and suffered scratches on his hands when he tried to get away."

Carroll, 23, of Bitterne Road, Southampton; Middleton-Payne, 20, of Obelisk Road, Southampton, and Potter, 24, of Shirley Road, admitted robbery.

"Taxi drivers expect protection from courts as they are prone to this sort of offence," said Judge Nicholas Rowland, passing sentence.

Potter was jailed for 40 months. Middleton-Payne, who was in breach of a conditional discharge and admitted stealing about £30 worth of meat from a city supermarket, received 38 months, and Carroll, who also pleaded guilty to an unrelated offence of burgling a city shop and breaching a suspended sentence, got 47 months.

All three were serial offenders.

Potter had 40 previous convictions for 82 offences, Carroll 44 convictions for 88 offences, and Middleton-Payne 12 convictions for 24 offences.

Justin Hugheston-Roberts, defending, said Carroll recognised he had to grow up and stop offending. The robbery had not been planned and was opportunistic, and he was unaware a weapon would be used. In jail, he would also miss the birth of his child.

For Middleton-Payne, Richard Martin said it was the old familiar story of someone slipping into drug addiction. She had done everything possible since to come off substances and had sent letters of apology to the court and the victim. "She wasn't physically involved but lending vocal encouragement and is remorseful."

Jamie Gammon, defending Potter, said he had not gone out that evening with the intention of committing the robbery. "Thankfully the taxi driver wasn't aware the weapon was being thrust towards him. No substantial injuries were caused and no substantial property taken."