A drunken teenager who attacked a cabbie with three bottles during an unsuccessful attempt to rob him has been jailed for four years.
The attack by Jacob Bateman-Evans (18) left the taxi driver with head and facial injuries, including bruises and a cut that needed stitches.
The victim said he felt "grateful to be alive".
Alan Murphy, prosecuting at Leicester Crown Court, said the defendant called the private hire taxi to collect him and two others from a house in Mereworth Close, off Hastings Road, Leicester, at 2.15am on January 26.
He paid his £13 fare up front, asking to be taken home to Beaumont Road, Spinney Hills, in the city.
He sat in the front seat, having paid with a £50 note and received the correct change.
The two other passengers were dropped off at different locations.
However, in Beaumont Road the defendant claimed not to live there and told the driver to carry on.
When they got to nearby Vulcan Road, Bateman-Evans, who had a bag containing bottles of alcohol, demanded: "Give me my £50 and all of the money.
"He picked up a beer bottle and said 'Give me the money or I'll hit you'," Mr Murphy said.
"The driver began arguing with him and the defendant did exactly what he said he was going to do and hit him very hard with it."
The victim took the bottle from him, but Bateman-Evans continued to demand cash and hit him with a vodka bottle on the head.
The driver took that bottle off him and radioed control asking for the police to be called.
He got out of the taxi, followed by the defendant who struck him with another beer bottle three or four times, before delivering a flurry of punches.
The victim, who was covered in blood, tried to restrain him, but the defendant escaped and ran off empty-handed.
He was arrested the next day at the address in Beaumont Road he had originally given to the taxi driver.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Brown said two days before the offence the defendant was fined by Market Harborough magistrates for threatening behaviour.
He said: "You've nine convictions for violence and public order-related offences.
"This was a sustained and a very violent attack.
"The victim, like other taxi drivers, is entitled to be protected by the courts from this sort of violence from passengers.
"Taxi drivers are particularly vulnerable, working alone during unsocial hours."
Bateman-Evans admitted attempted robbery.
The victim spent three days off work, became depressed and no longer works nights, which has affected his income.
Mr Murphy said: "He feels it's changed his life, although he was grateful he was still alive."
Edward Barr, mitigating, said his client was the worse for drink.
He said: "It was impulsive, with the intention to rob formed outside his front door."
