A 21-year-old heroin addict who admitted his part in a late night robbery on a taxi driver has been jailed for nearly four years.

Christopher Clarke was one of three men who took a taxi from Basildon train station in the early hours of Friday, April 16, and directed the driver to a garage area in Great Gregorie.

Clarke tied tape around the terrified victim's neck and pulled it tight before his two accomplices then beat the driver before making off with the night's takings, a mobile phone and car keys.

Sentencing Clarke to three years and 11 months at Basildon Crown Court on Friday, Judge Philip Clegg, told him: "This was a wicked offence."

For more details see today's Echo.