Vincent Burch was sentenced to more than three years behind bars yesterday for the "diabolical'' robbery of a taxi driver.

Burch, 22, of Derwent Lane, Devonshire, stood impassively in the box while Puisne Judge Norma Wade Miller passed sentence, but his mother who was sitting in the gallery broke down in tears.

As she left the courtroom, she was comforted by one of the jurors.

Burch had denied being involved in the September 1, 1996 attack on Leon Trott which landed the taxi driver in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with a slashed throat.

After the four-man, eight-woman jury had given their unanimous guilty verdict, Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller asked Burch if he had anything to say.

"I am not guilty,'' he replied. He would not say anything else.

Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller said this implied he had no remorse for the crime he had been found guilty of committing.

If a word had to be used to describe what he did, she continued, it would be "diabolical''.

"Taxi drivers must be able to trust their passengers or the social fabric of the community will crumble,'' she said.

She then sentenced him to three and a half years imprisonment.

Burch was also charged with attempted murder and two counts of wounding but during her summation Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller told the jury that they were to only consider one charge -- that Burch, together with Stedman Clarke and armed with a dangerous weapon, robbed Mr. Trott.

Clarke had taken responsibility for wounding Mr. Trott and is currently serving a two-year prison sentence for the crime.

She also advised the jury that if they did not find Burch guilty of robbery, they could consider the charge of attempted robbery.

During the three-day trial, Clarke testified that he and Burch plotted to rob a taxi driver just two weeks before the incident and that Burch came up with the idea.

He said they discussed their plan just hours before Mr. Trott stopped to pick them up.

Clarke said Burch distracted Mr. Trott by pretending to pay him.

The jury also heard Mr. Trott describe how he was twice slashed across the throat.

"The person behind me grabbed me by my chin and pulled my head back from the left,'' he recalled. "He cut my throat with his right hand. I said `hold up the money's right here' and I patted my left pants pocket.'' After he was cut a second time, Mr. Trott said he began to struggle with his assailant and felt the person in the front of the cab reach into his pants pockets.

IMPRISONED -- Vincent BurchIMPRISONED -- Vincent Burch