Woman haunted by rape ordeal was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by Uber driver after ordering a taxi home from night out instead of walk because friend feared she could be attacked again
An Uber driver has been jailed after kidnaping and sexually assaulting a rape victim who booked with the firm because her friends were worried about her walking home alone.
Md Sultan Mahamud, 36, locked the woman in his vehicle and forced himself upon her during a 12-mile terror trip in which he tried to drive her to his Rochdale home.
His victim, who had previously been raped by a stranger during a separate incident in 2019, had booked with Uber because her friends believed she would be safer getting a mini-cab.
However when Mahamud picked her up outside a bar in Manchester, he began sexually assaulting her by trying to kiss her and grab her legs - while he was driving.
During the journey the terrified victim managed to secretly send texts to a friend saying: 'Help! Uber driver has kidnapped me. I don't know what to do. I'm so scared. he's locked me in.
'He's turned off my location. He kissed me. He's locked the doors, I can't even jump out. I can't do this again.'
She only managed to escape when Mahamud pulled up outside his home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester and disabled the lock allowing the woman to flee into the night.
Today, at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Mahamud was jailed for four and a half years after he admitted kidnap and sexual assault.
The court heard how the incident occurred on August 5, 2020, after the victim had been out with friends at Tribeca bar on Sackville Street, Manchester and they stayed chatting until 6am.
The victim, who is in her 20s, had logged onto the Uber app at the end of a night out to get her back to her home.
She ordered an Uber as her friends believed she would be safer inside a cab, after she was raped by a stranger in 2019.
But when Mahamud arrived to pick her up to take her to her apartment on the outskirts of Manchester city centre, he forced himself on the woman.
He refused to let her out of his taxi and instead subjected her to a 12 mile terror trip to his own home whilst he repeatedly molested her at the wheel.
The victim, who has since moved away from the UK, later told police: 'What happened to me in 2019 changed the way I lived my life on a regular basis in that I no longer felt safe to walk home alone.
'I put my trust in a company like Uber who I thought would keep me safe from harm, but this man did the opposite of that.
'Now I don't feel safe walking and I don't feel safe getting taxis. He has completely broken my trust in what should be a safe method for everyone to get where they're going.
'I feel like it's basically taken away my freedom of choice as I am always relying on the fact that someone else is available to come home with me, I don't feel safe going anywhere alone anymore.
'I now only used three Ubers a week to get around, whereas I used to book one a day. Whenever drivers do something unexpected, even something innocent, it still scares me.'
Mark Kellet, prosecuting, said that in 2019 the complainant was the victim of a violent rape by a stranger as she walked home through the city centre.
He told the court: 'That offence has nothing to do with the defendant in this case but it was present in the mind of the complainant's friend who enjoined her not to walk home but to book an Uber for her safety - serving to illustrate the trust placed in taxi drivers.
'And it was present in the mind of the complainant during the defendant's offending and afterwards, as she feared she was going to be raped again - such that the previous offence is, it is submitted, relevant to the harm which he caused to her.'
Speaking about the incident, Mr Kellett said: 'Whilst driving, he (Mahamud) began to make conversation with her and started talking about his girlfriend, saying she wouldn't have sex with him and this naturally made the complainant feel uncomfortable.
'But whilst thinking she would be home in a few minutes, she humoured the defendant by saying such a state of affairs was regrettable.
'The defendant stopped the car near to where the complainant lived but then told her she was lovely, asked her for her telephone number, and demanded a kiss.'
Mr Kellett told the court that Mahamud grabbed the victim by the the shirt and pulled her towards him, removing both their Covid-masks before kissing her on the lips.
He said Mahamud then asked her to come back to his house. He told the court: 'She replied by telling him that she needed to go home but he ignored her and wouldn't take no for an answer.
'Instead, he began to drive, making no effort to take her home. She tried to open the rear passenger door but it had evidently been locked.
'She felt unsafe being driven to an unknown location against her will and used her phone to send messages and images to her friend repeatedly expressing her fear, she was being taken against her will, that she couldn't get out of the car because it had been locked, that the defendant was sexually touching her.
'She said she needed help and that she feared being raped again.
'The friend called police whilst the complainant was still in the car and during that call he disclosed "She was attacked last year as well and it is bringing all that up".
The court heard the victim used her phone to take pictures and video of Mahamud, including some clips in which he can be seen sexually assaulting her. In one video, she is heard asking Mahamud to let her out.
Mahamud was heard replying: 'You enjoy and then I drop you' before eventually pulling over and getting to open the passenger door. She managed to slip passed him and sought help from a passer-by.
Mahamud was later arrested but initially denied any incident took place until shown the video footage but claimed any sexual activity was instigated by his passenger.
The court heard his wife was currently six months pregnant with their child and she had been unaware of the charges against him until the day of his sentencing.
His lawyer Mark Fireman said in mitigation: 'He had misjudged the situation entirely.'
Sentencing Mahamud, Judge Angela Nield said: 'Those who use taxi services like Uber are entitled to feel safe in their cabs and this was a clear abuse of trust.
'Whilst it is clear the defendant could not have known about the victim's history it is clear her previous trauma has magnified this incident significantly. If it wasn't for the victim's accompanying videos and images we might not be here today.
'What happened to her strikes against the principle that many women hold in that in order to keep themselves safe they must take a taxi home rather than walk. One does not bear to think about the anguish and fear she suffered during the period she was in that car.'
Mahamud was also ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register and was made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
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