A DUDLEY taxi driver who went on a cocaine binge threatened to stab a terrified woman with a knife.

Abdul Jabbar had asked his victim to give him a lift after he dropped off his vehicle for repair.

He had parked alongside her by a block of flats in Netherton before climbing into her car and admitting he was high on cocaine after taking the controlled drug for most of the day.

The 41-year-old, of Corporation Road, told his victim: "I'm sorry. I don't know what I am doing," before suddenly producing the eight inch knife from a bag, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

She started screaming and kicking as she made a desperate attempt to get out of her car but Jabbar grabbed her by the hair, said Howard Searle, prosecuting.

Mr Searle said she managed to wriggle free and started to call the police on her mobile but Jabbar put his hand over her mouth and shouted "shut up or I will stab you".

A passing member of the public heard her cries for help and Jabbar threw her to the ground before fleeing from the scene in his taxi.

As he jailed Jabbar for 18 months, Judge James Burbidge QC said it was clear he had planned to "get a woman on her own in a car while coked up".

He added: "You had your own agenda but you have not been entirely honest while claiming she had nothing to fear from you."

Curtis Myrie, defending, said Jabbar - who admitted assault and making threats with the knife - had developed a serious cocaine habit as his marriage was breaking down.

The court was told the woman had not been physically injured in the frightening incident but she was now wary about going out and she had changed her car because it was a reminder of what happened.