Knifeman gets 6 years after terrifying ordeal of woman taxi driver

Lithuanian Artur Rodzevic, 21, asked Nikki Donald to drive him into the countryside, pretending he was looking for a job, before he pulled a knife on her.

Yesterday, Miss Donald, 33, dismissed Rodzevic's attempts to apologise to her in court as he was jailed for five years and seven months.

"It didn't mean anything to me," she said of the apology . "I knew he didn't mean it when I saw the way he looked at me when he was being taken out."

Recalling the incident, she said: "I was terrified. I thought I was going to be killed or raped, one of the two." She said she thought the sentence was lenient, but said: "I was not caring however many years he got, so long as he was deported."

Rodzevic, of Peterhead, admitted assaulting and robbing Miss Donald on 28 September last year. He will be deported at the end of his sentence.

Miss Donald had been working as a taxi driver for only four days, and her Peugeot people carrier was hired by Rodzevic in Peterhead town centre.

She took him to the area around the village of Longside, and believed he was looking for work. At one point, he left the vehicle and asked a woman at a farm for a job.

The advocate-depute, Ashley Edwards, said Miss Donald became suspicious. As she tried to turn on a farm track, Rodzevic threatened her with a nine-inch knife. She tried to get away but he pushed her into the back of the vehicle and produced brown tape.

"He proceeded to wrap the tape tightly round Miss Donald's head, completely covering her eyes, nose and mouth," said Ms Edwards.

"He bound her legs together by wrapping the tape tightly around her ankles. He also bound her arms to her upper body."

Rodzevic put her on a grass bank and cut a hole in the tape across her mouth so she could tell him her bank card number. He drove off, and after she was sure he had gone, she managed to free herself and raise the alarm at a farm.

The taxi was found in a ditch, and police caught Rodzevic hiding in a field.

The court was told that Miss Donald's confidence had been destroyed by the incident, and she had not been able to return to her job. She suffered from severe depression and insomnia.

The defence counsel, Shahid Latif, said Rodzevic had been subjected to physical and psychological abuse in his childhood, and had turned to drink and drugs.

"It was never his intention to hurt the victim, and he recognises it must have been a very frightening experience for her. He apologises for what occurred," said Mr Latif.

Lord Brailsford told Rodzevic: "This offence was obviously terrifying to the unfortunate victim. It comes as no surprise to me to be informed it has had not insignificant psychological effects."