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Birmingham taxi driver accused of sex attack and locking female passenger inside his car
A taxi driver locked a woman passenger inside his cab and sexually assaulted her, Birmingham Crown Court was told. Muhammad Naeem drove the victim to a quiet spot in Sutton Coldfield, asked her to take her top off and when she refused, grabbed hold of her wrists.
She only managed to escape when she said she would dial 999 if he didn't let her go. Naeem, 35, of Thistledown Road, Shard End, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and false imprisonment.
Christopher Lester, prosecuting, told the jury how the incident happened on Friday, August 11 last year. He said the woman rang Mercury Cars and asked to be taken from her home to the Sutton Tap pub - formerly known as Talk of the Town - in South Parade, Sutton Coldfield. Naeem pulled up in his Toyota Avensis at about 11.30pm and the woman got in the back seat.
Mr Lester said: "The journey took about 10 minutes and the defendant said things which the victim thought were 'odd and off'. "He asked her if she had a boyfriend, did she want a relationship and told her that she smelled nice."
The jury heard how Naeem didn't drop her outside the Sutton Tap as she requested, but instead took her to the Sutton Sports and Social Club. Mr Lester said: "The significance of that was because it was a lot quieter, it wasn't very well lit and there weren't many people around."
He said he stopped the taxi and asked her to take her top off so he "could smell her after she'd gone". The victim refused, offered him £10 for the fare and tried to get out but found he'd locked the doors.
"He then took hold of her left wrist and started to pull it towards the driver's seat," Mr Lester said. "She was very scared and he was bending her wrist and hurting her. "But with her right hand, she managed to get her phone, touch the screen so it lit up and told the defendant that if he didn't let her go she would ring the police."
At that point he let her go, took the £10 off her and she got out of the cab and immediately rang 999 to report what had happened. But fortunately she spotted a marked police car which was on a routine patrol, flagged it down and told them what happened and they gave her a lift home.
The jury was given a transcript of the 999 call, during which she told the operator how Naeem had asked if she was on Facebook, that she smelled nice and how he wanted her to take her clothes off.
Mr Lester said despite her ordeal, the victim had managed to take down the registration plate on her mobile phone and through that Naeem was traced and arrested a few days later.
During police interview, he admitted driving her to the wrong location and said it was "an error". But he denied locking her in the car, grabbing her by the wrist and asking her to take her top off.
The trial continues
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