Goody’s husband threatened to stab taxi driver

THE husband of reality television star Jade Goody threatened to stab a taxi driver who asked for the fare in advance, a court has heard.

Jack Tweed, 21, of Buckhurst Hill, Essex, grabbed Stephen Wilkins around the neck while the cab was travelling at 80kp/h, magistrates in Epping were told.

Wilkins, who is in his 50s, alleges he was attacked after picking up Tweed and three other people outside a club in the Essex town in the early hours of May 5 last year. Tweed denies assault.

Wilkins said Tweed, a second man and two women climbed into his car and all four sat in the back seat. That is in breach of taxi regulations but, when he raised concerns, he was told to “just drive”. He said Tweed then became aggressive after he asked for the fare up front in accordance with his firm’s policy. When they refused to pay up, he decided to return to Epping, but came under attack.

He told the court: “The guy behind me started screaming . . . and grabbed me from behind. He got hold of me with his arm. Pulled his arm around my neck and pulled it against the head rest. He was leaning over me, over the back of my seat, with his face alongside my face, screaming ‘I will stab you’.”

The hearing continues.

Meanwhile, Goody left hospital yesterday after an operation to relieve her pain.

The 27-year-old Big Brother star left the Royal Marsden Hospital, in Fulham, in a wheelchair. She has been given weeks to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.