Keighley man assaulted pregnant woman, Bradford Crown Court told
A sacked minicab driver has been spared jail after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a pregnant woman.
Qamar Zaman, 33, has been ordered to do 240 hours of supervised, unpaid community work for the attack during a journey from Haworth to the woman’s home near Keighley on February 5 last year.
Zaman, of Florist Street, Stockbridge, Keighley, carried out the assault on the pregnant 22-year-old who ordered a taxi to take her home from a night out with a friend.
The jury had been unable to reach a verdict in the original trial, but he was convicted following a re-trial last month. At the sentencing hearing yesterday, Bradford Crown Court heard how the woman was sat in the front passenger seat of Zaman’s vehicle.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp said Zaman, who is married, rubbed her stomach after she mentioned she was pregnant. He stopped and started again, the second time moving his hand to the top of her jeans.
He stopped, squeezed her cheeks and called her ‘beautiful’. She asked him to stop the car and, as she got out of the vehicle and paid the fare, he grabbed her wrist, pulled her towards him and kissed her on the cheek before driving away.
Zaman’s barrister, Sabrina Hartshorn, said: “Very little can be said about the offence. The defendant is still denying the offence took place.
“He is unemployed at present. He was sacked upon his conviction and given the difficulty in obtaining a licence after a conviction of this nature, he will no longer work as a private hire driver. He has been hitherto of good character. He came to this country seven years ago and has been employed as a private hire driver for three years without any complaints.”
Sentencing, Judge Peter Benson ordered Zaman to sign the sex offender’s register for five years.
Zaman, who needed the help of an Urdu interpreter, stood motionless as the judge summed up.
Judge Benson said: “You were in a position where she trusted you and you abused that trust and I have to consider whether you should go into custody for a short period. But in the circumstances I can just avoid custody in your case by punishing you in the community.”
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