'I'm in the Army, I will f***ing kill you' - Army major grabbed taxi driver's neck in drunken attack as he drove her home

Major Lianne Robinson, who is 38, had been drinking for several hours at a wedding celebration before getting in a taxi to take her home to Shifnal, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on Thursday.

The driver picked up Robinson's fare near Swynnerton, Staffordshire, at about 12.30am on June 9 this year, prosecutor Suzanne Francis told the court.

"She was clearly extremely intoxicated and her friends... wanted to accompany her, but she insisted on travelling alone. She entered the taxi and sat behind [the driver] and asked to be taken to Shifnal."

The route he took, using the A41, was the correct one, the prosecutor said, but at a point in the journey near Newport, Robinson became verbally hostile and repeatedly told him to "turn around right now".

"She became very abusive and grabbed him from behind," Miss Francis said. She grabbed hold of his neck while he was still driving, leaving him with red marks.

The prosecutor showed the court a dashcam video which captured audio of Robinson's frightening tirade, and showed the driver was taking the correct route towards Shifnal.

Over about four and a half minutes she could be heard saying "I'm in the Army, I will f***ing kill you," repeatedly telling him to turn around "right now" and calling him a "f***ing c***".

The terrified driver had noticed Robinson was wearing formal military 'mess' wear and genuinely feared that she was "capable of killing him", Miss Francis told the court.

He phoned his office, who called the police, and he drove to the taxi firm's office to wait for officers there.