Taxi driver jailed for sexually abusing terrified female passenger Dilruba Ramzan sentenced to four years after sexually assaulting passenger who wanted to be taken home after a night out in Leamington
A taxi driver is starting a four year jail sentence for sexually abusing a female passenger as he was taking her home after a night out.
Dilruba Ramzan, 41, of Haddon Road, Lillington, Leamington, was jailed after a jury at Warwick Crown Court had found him guilty of sexually assaulting the young woman.
Sentencing Ramzan, who the court heard continues to protest his innocence, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano also ordered him to register as a sex offender for life.
His victim had told the court that in January last year, after finishing work at around midnight, she and some of her colleagues had gone to a bar in Leamington town centre.
When the bar closed, she got a taxi outside for her and a friend who was drunk.
The driver, Ramzan, first took them to Leamington railway station and then to her friend’s home.
She told the jury she followed her friend inside, but left some time later and was again picked up by Ramzan – but thought the route he was taking to her home was unfamiliar.
He pulled up in an area which was later identified as near the junction of Gresham Road and Valley Road in Lillington.
She said it was then that he sexually assaulted her.
John Edwards, defending, put to her: “What I suggest is that as far as any sexual contact is concerned with the taxi driver, you not he instigated it.” She replied: “Absolutely not.”
Following an adjournment for a pre-sentence report to be prepared on Ramzan, the court heard that in an impact statement his victim ‘says she feels this man has ruined her life’ and has been in a state of shock since the incident.
Mr Edwards said there were a number of references for Ramzan, a family man who has lost the job he held dear after 23 years.
But the judge pointed out that many of them were from people who think he is not guilty and wrongly believe him to be the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Mr Edwards conceded: “There is scant mitigation after a trial. Young women have a right to travel unmolested in a taxi. I have told him there can only be one sentence.”
Jailing Ramzan, Judge de Bertodano told him: “In January last year, while you were working as a minicab driver, you sexually assaulted a female passenger in your taxi.
“It is perfectly clear when she delivered her friend back to her friend’s house you stayed waiting outside for over half an hour so you could be sure to be the one taking her back home alone.
“When this happened as a result of your planning, you stopped in a layby and activated the central locking and sexually abused her.
“You were arrested and you lied about what happened, your lies being tailored as each new piece of evidence emerged.
“Women have a right to expect they can trust taxi drivers not to use their position in this way. It was a form of abduction, taking her to a layby and locking the doors.
“You are still in complete denial of what happened, and you still blame her for putting you in this position; but I have no doubt whatsoever that the jury reached the right verdict."
source:
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/l ... ng-9420504
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