FAKE CABBIE IN SEX ASSAULT IS JAILED8:40am Thursday 6th October 2011A man who sexually assaulted a drunken young Keighley woman after masquerading as a taxi driver has been sentenced to an extended seven-year prison sentence.
Faisel Yaqoob, of Toller Lane, Bradford, was sentenced to four years in jail for the attack on the “vulnerable” 19-year-old, who he drove to a secluded spot after picking her up as she walked home from a night out in Keighley.
Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, who extended the sentence for a further three years, told Yaqoob his actions had also done “untold damage” to the “salt of the earth” taxi drivers of Bradford and Keighley.
The 24-year-old, who appeared at Bradford Crown Court on Monday, after being convicted last month following a trial, pulled up alongside the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in the early hours of February 21 last year.
Prosecutor Sarah Johnston told the court he asked the woman where she was going and, believing him to be a taxi driver, she got into his car. He drove to the rear of a sports ground and asked if she had “ever had sex with a [edited by admin]?” before sexually assaulting her.
The woman, who tried to push Yaqoob away and repeatedly told him to stop, was captured on CCTV fleeing the vehicle and hid while she called 999. Yaqoob then pulled up alongside her and said the assault “was only a bit of fun”. The court heard the woman ran away again and was found hiding in a bush by police.
Representing Yaqoob, barrister David McGonigal said eight letters had been sent to Judge Durham Hall by relatives and friends in support of his client, for whom the incident appeared to be out of character.
He said Yaqoob, who had never been out of work, had recently married and obtained employment in the Midlands. “He has and had very much going for him,” he said.
Judge Durham Hall said the “harrowing” 999 call made by his victim, which was played to the jury, brought home what a “terrible ordeal” the incident had been for the woman.
He told Yaqoob: “This sexual assault involved you targeting that vulnerable young woman and deceiving her into thinking you were a taxi driver and thus reassured she got into your car which looked like a taxi by its colour, shape and model.”
Judge Durham Hall, who told the court sentencing guidelines were inappropriate due to aggravating factors, also said he agreed with a report by the probation service which concluded Yaqoob had a derogatory and dangerous attitude towards women and posed a risk to the public. He also banned Yaqoob, who had a previous conviction for dangerous driving, from driving for four years and forbade him from ever applying for a licence to drive a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle.
After the hearing, Detective Inspector John Priestley, of Airedale and North Bradford CID, said: “This sort of crime is unacceptable and Yaqoob has been brought to justice after a detailed police investigation.”
Source; http://www.keighleynews.co.uk/news/9289 ... IS_JAILED/
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