Taxi Driver Online

Unlicensed taxi driver jailed for sexually assaulting women he picked up in Liverpool

A fake taxi driver who sexually assaulted two vulnerable young women he picked up in Liverpool city centre, was jailed for 13 years. Waqas Arshad was described as a “dangerous offender” by a judge who imposed an extra five years on licence for the terrifying attacks. The 28-year-old will have to serve two thirds of the custodial term before he can apply for parole.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Arshad had deliberately travelled from his Derby home to pose as a legitimate taxi driver in the city but the vehicles he used were unlicensed. Phil Astbury, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court: “The defendant in this case posed as a legitimate taxi driver in the centre of Liverpool.”

Arshad first struck on Saturday, November 11 last year when an 18-year-old girl from North Wales became separated from her friends at the end of the night. She decided to go back to Bootle, where she was staying, and got in the back of Arshad’s Mercedes believing it was a legitimate taxi. Arshad pestered her to sit in the front and when she did he put his hand on her thigh,

She made it clear this was not welcome and pushed his hand away but he persisted and moved his hand up her thigh and tried to push her thighs apart. He also put her fingers in his mouth. In a statement she told the court she was left “shocked scared... and feeling very alone and vulnerable.”

Arshad drove the woman to Clubmoor, not Bootle, and made excuses when she queried where they were. He continued touching her before putting his hand down her top and cupping her breast over clothing. When he eventually dropped her in Bootle she fled and told a witness who spotted her what happened.

Fortunately the woman, who cannot be identified, was able to note down the registration number of Arshad’s car. Exactly a week later on Saturday November 19, a 20-year-old Bebington woman, who was drunk, got into Arshad’s “taxi”, this time a Lexus.

The court heard the Mercedes was not a plated taxi and Arshad borrowed the Lexus from a cousin. As they went through the tunnel, having first gone via Aigburth Road, he put his hand on her thigh and she brushed him off. Mr Astbury said that she then fell asleep and when she awoke found he had driven her to a warehouse on an industrial estate in Wirral. He undid his belt and exposed himself and tried to place her hand on his penis.

Arshad then asked her to perform a sex act on him and when she refused he climbed out of his seat and on top of her and tried to undo her trousers. She said he was also kissing her face. The woman swore at him to get off her which seemed to “spook” him and he got off and drove her home, the journey having taken almost three times as long as it should have done. Once in the house she saw her mum and burst into tears and the police were notified.

Arshad, of Mill Road in Derby, denied the allegations and Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said that meant the victims were branded as ‘liars’ in court and one was insultingly accused of promiscuous behaviour. He said: “It is clear you targeted lone young females... They were vulnerable and you took advantage of that.” He said that Arshad had deliberately extended the time the journeys took so that he “could see how far you could get”.

Police investigations revealed that both the cars he had used were insured to a company named “2 1 cars” based in Derby. Officers travelled there and saw him driving the Mercedes and he was arrested and taken back to Liverpool. When interviewed he explained his cousin was a hackney cab driver in Liverpool and he often drove over to Liverpool to pick up fares that his cousin put his way.

He agreed he had picked up both girls but denied assaulting the first victim and claimed the other girl he had to fight off due to her sexual advances. A jury found Arshad guilty of two offences of attempted rape and four sexual assaults.

The judge ordered Arshad to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life and banned him from carrying females in his car as a taxi driver. Clive Stockwell, QC, said that Arshad, who maintains his innocence, has no previous convictions and had not used violence on the women. He said: “He stepped back from what he could have done.”

_________________
IDFIMH

Arshad had deliberately travelled from his Derby home to pose as a legitimate taxi driver in the city but the vehicles he used were unlicensed

I wonder if he had been reading the Liverpool echo taxi stories and thought that looks like chaos ....perfect stalking territory

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

_________________
IDFIMH

Fake taxi driver who sexually attacked two lone young women in cab moans about jail term

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... y-15581636

Court of Appeal dismissed challenge against 13 year prison sentence for attempted rape and assaults after driving all the way from DERBY

A fake taxi driver who sexually assaulted two vulnerable young women he picked up in Liverpool city centre has been moaning about his 13-year sentence.

Waqas Arshad drove 90 miles from his home in Derby to target lone females getting into his cab in the early hours of the morning, London's Appeal Court heard.

The 29-year-old travelled for two hours to get to Merseyside, to pose as a legitimate taxi driver in the city but the vehicles he used were unlicensed.

His first victim, 18, from North Wales, told how Arshad kept pressing her to join him in the front seat of his Mercedes, later groping her thigh and her breast over her clothes, Lord Justice Flaux.

She had got separated from her friends and decided to go back to Bootle, where she was staying.

The teen made it clear this was not welcome and pushed his hand away but he persisted and moved his hand up her thigh and tried to push her thighs apart.

He also put her fingers in his mouth.

In a statement she told the court she was left “shocked scared... and feeling very alone and vulnerable.”

Fortunately the woman, who cannot be identified, was able to note down the registration number of Arshad’s car.

A week later, in November 2017, Arshad was back in Liverpool city centre and picked up a 20-year-old in his car, this time a Lexus.

He groped her thigh, but the woman, from Bebington, resisted and fell asleep, thinking he was no longer a threat.

But she woke soon after to find Arshad had pulled over into a deserted industrial estate on Wirral, the court heard.

He tried to have sex with his passenger and asked her to perform oral sex on him.

When jailed, Arshad was ordered to serve an extra five years on licence following his release, and told he must serve two thirds of his sentence before he can be considered for parole.

Arshad’s case reached the Appeal Court as he pleaded for a sentence cut, claiming his punishment was too harsh.

Lord Justice Flaux, who was sitting with two other judges, said Arshad continues to deny his guilt, having branded both his victims liars during his trial.

Arshad "abused trust as a sexual predator" and targeted vulnerable lone passengers, one of whom was easy prey due to alcohol.

The judge said: “We are satisfied that there was ample material on which the sentencing judge was entitled to conclude this man was dangerous.

“The overall sentence of custody reflected the seriousness of his offending and was not arguably excessive”.

Arshad, of Mill Road in Derby, denied the allegations and which meant the victims were branded as ‘liars’ in court and one was accused of "promiscuous behaviour."

A jury found Arshad guilty of two offences of attempted rape and four sexual assaults.

Arshad’s appeal was dismissed.

Court of Appeal dismissed challenge against 13 year prison sentence

now how about extraditing him to this place

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilha_da_Queimada_Grande

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !