JACK Tweed has been told he will face 12 weeks in custody after he was found guilty of assaulting a taxi driver in Epping last May.

Epping Magistrates heard in March that Tweed, 21, grabbed Sadler's Taxi driver Stephen Wilkins around the throat and threatened to stab him following a night out with friends at Club 195 in Epping.

After a disagreement over the fee Mr Wilkins told the group, including Tweed that he was going to head back to Epping and did a u-turn on the Epping New Road.

Tweed started swearing and shouting at the driver before grabbing him around the neck from the seat behind.

Mr Wilkins said: "He pulled his arm around my neck and pulled me tightly against the head rest. He pulled his face up on my left hand side and was leaning over the back seat with his face right up next to my face screaming 'I will stab you you f****** c***.'"

The court heard that Tweed then leaned forward and pulled up the hand brake while the car was going at 50mph.

Before being handcuffed and led to the cells of the court, Tweed was told he would spend half of his sentence behind bars before being freed on licence.

He was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £455 and £200 to Mr Wilkins.

The conviction is the second time in six months that Tweed has been found guilty of assault.

In September, he was given an 18-month jail sentence by a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court after being found guilty of hitting 16-year-old Daniel Steel with a golf club.