A TAXI driver has been jailed for two years for sexually abusing a vulnerable young woman stranded in Bradford city centre in the early hours of the morning.
Married father-of-four, Farooq Ahmed, told his distressed passenger his sexual fantasies, pretended he was divorced and touched her bare knee.
His 26-year-old victim was so terrified she locked herself in her house and had never got into a taxi since, Bradford Crown Court heard.
She was off work for three months and had since moved home.
Ahmed, 38, of Birch Lane, West Bowling, Bradford, denied sexually assaulting the woman after picking her up at a taxi rank in Hall Ings, in Bradford city centre, at 4am on April 6 last year.
He was convicted by a jury today by a majority of 10-2.
After the verdict, Ahmed’s barrister, Stephen Uttley, conceded the offence was a serious breach of trust on a vulnerable woman and his client's conduct had shamed his family.
“His licence was suspended once he was charged and his career and source of employment has gone forever,” Mr Uttley said.
During the trial, the jury heard that the young woman twice rang the police asking for help to get home after arguing with her partner on a night out.
The operator advised her to ask a taxi driver to take her home for £4, which was all the money she had with her, and, when she approached Ahmed’s cab, he agreed.
He shared his sexual fantasies on the ten minute taxi ride and told her: “You would benefit from a real man.”
He also gave a false name and pretended to be divorced.
Once outside her home, he lent into the back of the taxi, touched the woman’s bare knee and asked if he could come into her house.
She got out of the cab on the pretext of checking to see if her partner was in. She locked herself in the house and called the police.
Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC told Ahmed that his victim had initially seen him as her saviour but he tried to seduce her.
“In the early hours of April 6, 2015, you sexually assaulted an isolated, vulnerable and distressed 26-year-old woman," he told him.
“You have been a taxi driver for at least 13 years and trusted by Bradford City to drive a Hackney Carriage, plying your vehicle for hire in the city centre.”
The judge also stressed that the “overwhelming majority” of taxi drivers are trustworthy and provide great assistance to the public.
and yet another one
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