Woman who was sexually assaulted by taxi driver tells him: "You are a disgrace of a human being"https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... i-15575997Mohammed Tahir had been denied leave to remain in the UK at the time of the attack
Image: Liverpool Echo/Merseyside PoliceA taxi driver sexually assaulted a young woman who fell asleep in his car.
Private hire driver Mohammed Tahir, whose taxi licence expired hours before the attack, picked up the 33-year-old woman in Bootle after she was separated from her friend.
He drove her to Seel Street in the city centre where she hoped to rejoin her pal. But when the woman, who is believed to have fallen asleep, did not get out there he drove her to a secluded spot and attacked her.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Tahir, 35, drove her around for two and half hours in the early hours of Dec 27 last year before ending up in Netherton where he climbed into the back seat and sexually assaulted her.
He had only had a short taxi licence and it expired at midnight on Boxing Day. Tahir, who is from Sudan, had applied for leave to permanently remain in the UK but it was not granted.
Tahir, of Sunnyside, Toxteth, was cleared of rape but was convicted, after two trials, of assault by penetration.
"Concerns" about young femalesSarah Holt, prosecuting, said that he has no previous convictions, though there had been concerns in 2015 about him being in the company of young females.
Judge Andrew Menary QC told him that he had sexually assaulted the woman “at a time when she was completely helpless in the early hours of the morning.”
He added: "The case involves a degree of abduction or at least prolonged detention. You had realised she was sufficiently affected by drink or tiredness or a combination of both and was not in a fit state to look after herself and you took advantage of that."
Jailing Tahir for 12 years, he also ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and imposed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from working as a taxi driver or transporting females.
The court heard that he will be automatically deported when his sentence ends.
The woman, who cannot be identified, stood up in court and told Tahir her life had "been turned upside down" and she feel "a shell" of her former self.
Tested for AIDSShe said: "I cannot remember much but waking up the next morning I had flashbacks and knew I had been assaulted. I couldn’t breathe and was crying.”
Police told her she could not wash because her body was evidence, but she said when she was allowed to she scrubbed her skin "until it was red raw".
She was put on medication in case she had been exposed to HIV and spend six months not knowing if she had contracted "a life limiting disease".
Turning to Tahir across the courtroom she told him: "You are a predator and a disgrace of a human being."
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