AN innocent taxi driver was set upon by two dogs during a ‘terrifying’ street robbery in Accrington town centre, a court was told.

Guy Anthony Wallace, then 20, had set the large German Shepherd and Staffordshire bull terrier on Sajid Hussain as he walked home in the Scaitcliffe Street area of the town in the early hours of May 17, Burnley Crown Court heard.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The victim was left with ‘significant injuries’ before friends managed to intervene and pull off the dogs, who had been ordered to ‘kill him’, the court was told.

Mr Hussain, who had just finished working a night-time shift for a local cab firm, was forced to hand over £120 in cash and his mobile phone to Wallace, who also repeatedly kicked the cabbie while the dogs were savaging him.

Wallace, of Scaitcliffe Street, who admitted offences of robbery and having dogs of out control in a public place, is now starting an eight-year prison sentence after a crown court recorder condemned the shocking violence.

Jailing him, Recorder Peter Atherton said: “The court does not have a victim impact statement from Mr Hussain but this must have been a terrifying incident for him.”

Prosecutor Robert Elias said that the Staffordshire bull terrier looked set to now be rehomed by the RSPCA, with the defendant’s consent.

But the court heard that the German Shepherd, said to belong to Wallace’s mother, had been deemed ‘dangerous’ by experts.

Mr Recorder Atherton ordered that the second dog should be destroyed although Wallace’s mother does have the right to appeal that court decision at a later date.

The court heard that Wallace did make a number of racial remarks towards the men who came to Mr Hussain’s aid on the night.

But Mr Recorder Atherton said that the prosecution had not sought to characterise the incident as a racially-motivated attack, which must count in the defendant’s favour.

Jonathan Dickinson, defending, said that Wallace, who had been drinking earlier, had not pre-planned the incident and now recognised the seriousness of his offending.

The offence was especially serious as Mr Hussain had been performing a public service, as a taxi driver, shortly before he was set upon.

Mr Dickinson said that the defendant, whose girlfriend is due to give have a baby next month, realised he had a problem with alcohol abuse, which had ‘disinhibited him’ at the time of the offence.

The court was told that the victim was knocked to the ground and received a number of bite to his upper thigh before Wallace began to kick him.