Saw a version of this in the Metro, which was confusing. It made it sound like the court process had just happened. I wondered if there had maybe been a retrial, or similar, but read this version closely and it says he pleaded guilty
'last January', and has only just been sentenced.
Sick taxi driver raped passenger, sexually assaulted two students and kept baby oil plus condoms in his carhttps://www.mylondon.news/news/south-lo ... r-26489921Homayon Ahmadi raped a woman after collecting her from hospital while she was only wearing slippersA sexual predator who used his position as a taxi driver to rape and sexually assault vulnerable women has been jailed. Homayon Ahmadi, 34, picked up his first victim from a hospital and then raped her in his car after insisting she pay for the journey through sexual intercourse.
Just a few months later, he sexually assaulted two young women after collecting them from Heaven nightclub in Central London. After buying them alcohol and insisting that one of them sit in the front seat, they refused and he sexually assaulted them at the roadside in Holloway.
Upon his arrest, his car was searched and police discovered baby oil and condoms in the glove department. Ahmadi, of New Road, Uxbridge, pleaded guilty last January to one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault and has now been jailed for 13 years with an additional extended licence of seven years.
Croydon Crown Court heard that on April 19, 2021, his first victim had been in hospital and was in a vulnerable state. She was discharged at 10.20pm and was seen on CCTV still wearing hospital slippers when she left to order a taxi.
Alisdair Smith, prosecuting, said: “She approached this defendant in a car and he was, the prosecution say, acting officially as a taxi or at least purported to be one and on that basis she went with him. She was soon aware that she had no way to pay and said her partner at home would pay upon their arrival. The defendant’s demand was that she have sex with him.”
Ahmadi then pulled into a garage in Croydon and held the woman down while raping her. The woman was later seen in a “distressed state” in the road after she had been dropped off and police were called. She was subject to a medical examination and Ahmadi’s semen was found on her underwear, however he was not known to the police at the time as he had no previous convictions.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she constantly suffers flashbacks and “paralysing fear”, adding: “The rape has had a major impact on my life and I am constantly afraid and am no longer able to focus on my studies.”
Three months later on July 25, two students attended Heaven nightclub on Villiers Street and ordered an Uber during the early hours to travel back to Greenwich. Shortly after booking a hire car, the victim’s phone battery died and the two friends began asking drivers if they had the booking in their name.
Ahmadi falsely claimed he was their driver and the two got into his taxi. A short while later, the victims realised that they were not travelling in the right direction, with Ahmadi stopping outside an off licence in Islington and purchasing Jameson's and Fanta. He offered them a drink, suggested they went back to his place and told them they were “boring” when they refused.
While on Hornsey Street, he pulled over and insisted one of the women sit in the passenger seat. The two victims attempted to get out of the car and leave, at which point Ahmadi sexually assaulted the first victim, while her friend attempted to stop him.
He proceeded to sexually assault the second woman before jumping back into his car and driving off. The incident was reported to the police immediately but as the women were unable to identify the off licence, police were limited with the extent of the investigation.
However in October, Ahmadi was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and was later connected to the two attacks. During his interviews, he answered no comment but claimed that sex had been consensual, before later pleading guilty to the three charges.
The court heard Ahmadi had moved to the UK from Afghanistan in 2010 to study finance and had been granted asylum. His wife had been killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul alongside 40 others, which had led him to develop depression, PTSD and alcohol issues.
Speaking of the impact his actions had on the women, Judge Elizabeth Lowe said: “Women are entitled to go out if they want to, they are entitled to drink alcohol, they are entitled to get drunk, they are entitled to walk alone and they are entitled to do all of those things without fear of being sexually assaulted or raped by men like you." She continued: “Everyone should appreciate, the only person to blame for those nights is you and the impact on these brave women is you.”
Labelling his behaviour "predatory and exploitative", he was jailed for 13 years with an extended licence period of seven years. He was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and a restraining order, preventing him from contacting any of his victims. Upon his release, he is prohibited for applying for a licence or acting as a taxi driver.