A KNIFEMAN who tried to rob a taxi driver just weeks after he was freed from a nine-year prison term is facing a potential life sentence.

Andrew Reed could be jailed indefinitely for his latest crime if a judge rules that he is a dangerous offender and a significant risk to the public.

Reed admitted attempting to rob cabbie Mehrban Manga, but claimed it was a spur-of-the-moment act after a row about being overcharged.

He told Teesside Crown Court that he found the seven-inch kitchen knife after tackling one of two men who had earlier robbed his sister.

A judge rejected the 31-year-old's account and ruled Reed hatched the plan soon after getting into the car in the early hours of July 29.

Mr Manga said Reed directed him to a remote location, produced the knife and demanded his takings, saying: "Give me all you've got."

The court heard that the convicted robber travelled to Middlesbrough town centre after hearing his sister - a prostitute - had been attacked.

Reed claimed he knew the two men but refused to name them when he was asked in court, and said the knife was dropped by one of them.

After having a trial to determine the truth, Recorder Michael Slater ruled that Reed took the weapon with him looking to avenge the attack.

The judge said it was "inherently implausible" that Reed found it after confronting one of the men and disarming him with a small piece of wood.

He also said "there was only one patent reason" for Mr Manga being directed into a cul-de-sac full of boarded-up houses at 4am.

"That was because it was a secluded spot out of view of the CCTV cameras where the defendant was going to attempt to rob him of his takings," said the judge.

"I am sure on the evidence I have heard that if the defendant did not intend to rob Mr Manga when he initially got into the taxi, within a very short time he had formulated that view by reason of the fact he was directing him to where he ultimately drove."

Reed, of St Nicholas Court, Grangetown, Middlesbrough, will be sentenced next month for attempted robbery and possessing a small amount of heroin.

The court heard that the offences were committed just over a month after his release from the nine-year prison term for two knife raids in Grangetown.

In one of the attacks, the drug addict brandished a kitchen knife in an off-licence and threatened a shopkeeper before escaping with £810 cash.

The other offence involved a householder who suffered a stab wound to the stomach after Reed stormed into a home demanding money.

When he was jailed in August 2005, a judge warned him that he could have been locked up for life.

Mr Recorder Slater said today: "I am going to make it quite clear that I am seriously considering imprisonment for public protection in this case."

The case was adjourned until late-February so experts from the Probation Service can compile a report on Reed's future danger to the public.