A robber who used a glass bottle to attack two taxi drivers has been jailed for more than five years.

Liam Bushell, 26, attacked the cabbies in Gravesend earlier this year after claiming he did not have money to pay the fares.

The jurors heard how late one night in March, Bushell booked a taxi from Orchard Road in Northfleet to York Road in Kings Farm, Gravesend.

When he arrived at the address he claimed he did not have the money to pay the fare.

The driver offered to take him to a nearby cash machine, but Bushell said he did not have his wallet on him.

The taxi driver asked Bushell for his phone number, but Bushell claimed he didn't have a phone.

At this point, he hit the driver over the back of the head with a beer bottle.

Realising he was bleeding the cabbie put his hand on his head and was struck again and he immediately got out of the car and ran up the road for help.

He turned back to see Bushell was running away from the taxi with a carrier bag, so he returned to his cab to find his mobile phone, takings from the previous night, a tablet computer, a dash cam and another security camera had all been stolen.

The driver went to hospital to be treated for lacerations to the back of his head.

The court was also told that in April, Bushell asked for a taxi to collect him from a pub in Old Road West, Gravesend, at around 3.40am.

After the taxi driver picked him up Bushell directed him to Oak Road and the driver asked where he would like him to stop.

Bushell then hit him on the back of the head twice with a beer bottle.

The cabbie got out of the car and shouted for help and at the same time Bushell attempted to get into the taxi driver’s seat.

The driver, who had fallen to the floor, got up and tried to stop Bushell from stealing his taxi.

Bushell continued to attack the cabbie who also fought back, until two people from a nearby house came out to help. Bushell then ran away.

Officers arrived and the taxi driver was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for various cuts and scratches and a large cut to his head.

While carrying out inquiries into the incident officers found a mobile phone nearby which belonged to Bushell and he was also identified through dash cam footage filmed during the second incident.

Officers found him during the early hours of the morning and in Kitchener Road, Gravesend, where he was arrested and later charged with both offences.

Bushell, of Gloucester Road, Gravesend, was jailed for five years and three months at Maidstone Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of robbery and an attempted robbery.

DC Iain Joyce, who investigated the case, said: "Bushell carried out vicious attacks on both men who were entirely innocent and working to make a living.

"He booked both taxis knowing that he would not be paying the fares and went equipped with a beer bottle on both occasions which he used to cause injuries.

"Dash cams are really important to have inside vehicles and as seen in this case helped to secure a good sentence due to the overwhelming evidence against him.

"Bushell’s behaviour was out of control during the incidents and I’m pleased he has been sentenced accordingly."