Taxi driver facing jail after raping teenage passenger A TAXI driver who raped a teenage passenger and claimed she had forced herself upon him was last night facing a lengthy prison sentence.
Liaqat Ali, 42, was yesterday convicted after a trial at Teesside Crown Court of forcing the 16-year-old to perform oral sex on him in his car.
The jury of six men and six women took a little more than three hours to return a ten-two majority guilty verdict at the end of the seven-day case.
Ali, of Abingdon Road, Middlesbrough, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced by Judge George Moorhouse on November 30.
The court heard that the cabbie picked up the drunken youngster and took advantage of her on what she thought was her journey home on March 2.
He stopped for the girl on Linthorpe Road and drove her to a secluded spot as she was dozing off in his taxi, said prosecutor Christine Egerton.
The jury heard that he forced her to perform a sex act upon him before driving her to her home, where she told her mother what had happened.
Miss Egerton said the girl was screaming as she revealed details of her ordeal, and was puling at he hair, which was matted with semen.
When he was first interviewed by police after his arrest, Ali accepted he had picked up the teenager but denied anything had happened.
A DNA test later linked him to the allegation, and he admitted he had initially lied, but said his passenger had initiated the sexual contact.
Giving evidence through an interpreter, Ali claimed the girl was lying about the rape, and it had been her who started touching him.
Miss Egerton accused the taxi driver of “making it up as you go along” and “hiding behind the interpreter” to avoid difficult questioning.
Ali will be sentenced once background reports have been prepared on him by officials from the Probation Service.
Judge Moorhouse told him: “The mere fact I am asking for reports mustn't give you any false hope . . . imprisonment is inevitable.”
source:
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1 ... passenger/
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