1 Mar 2008
Rapist who posed as taxi driver jailed
A RAPIST who preyed on young women by posing as a taxi driver has
been jailed.
Shahzad Mahmoud, of Burwell Road, Leyton, pleaded guilty to sexual
assault and two counts of oral rape.
He was sentenced to a 12 years in prison.
The 29-year-old will be placed on the Sex Offenders Regsiter and a
recommendation was made to deport him back to Pakistan when his
sentence is completed.
Mahmoud's first victim, a 23-year-old, was making her way home at 4am
after working a shift as a waitress in a central London hotel in December 2006.
She was dropped off by a legitimate taxi outside Leytonstone Tube station.
Mahmoud then drove passed and offered her a lift and she got in the car.
He drove to the dead-end of a dark road. He then became aggressive and
said he would only take her home if she complied with his demands.
She was then forced to perform oral sex on him.
Mahmoud then calmly told his victim to put her seatbelt on and began
driving towards her home.
He stopped the vehicle suddenly in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, and told the
woman to get out.
She stopped a passing vehicle and the driver alerted police.
Mahmoud struck again in March last year.
His second victim was making her way home from work at around 2am
when she was approached by Mahmoud in Leyton High Road.
He pulled up in a silver Jaguar and tried to engage the 23-year-old in
conversation, but she ignored him.
As she turned into William Street Mahmoud drove passed and parked.
Concerned, the woman turned into the next available road and started to run.
At the end of William Street she turned into Belmont Street, where she
was grabbed from behind.
She turned to face her attacker and recognised him as a man who had
stopped her a couple of weeks before and tried to kiss her.
When she had refused, he threatened to punch her in the face but she escaped.
This time, however, Mahmoud kept hold of her hair and sexually assaulted her.
She then ran to her nearby home and a housemate drove her to hospital.
She reported the incident to a passing police patrol car on route.
His third victim was attacked as she made her way home from an Ilford
nightclub at around 2am in March last year.
The 19-year-old was dropped off by a friend in Stratford so she could
catch a bus into Waltham Forest.
She was walking along the footpath to Markhouse Road after getting of the
bus in Lea Bridge Road when Mahmoud approached in his car.
The victim accepted an offer of a lift and asked to go to a petrol station in
Markhouse Road.
But he drove her to a dimly-lit road behind the Argyle industrial estate and
locked the car.
He then forced her to perform oral sex on him before letting her out of the
car nearby.
The victim made a note of the registration number and immediately
reported it to the police.
Mahmoud was arrested a short time later when he was spotted driving
along Leyton High Rd.
Trainee Det Cons Tracy Smith, from Waltham Forest Sapphire Unit, said:
"Throughout this case the defendant has shown little remorse for the
horrific ordeal that he put each of his victims through. Each of the three
attacks was a premeditated sexual attack.
"Admiration goes out to each victim - all of whom displayed tremendous
courage in reporting the crime and being willing to attend court which
resulted in the defendant pleading guilty to all three crimes.
"We hope that this result will encourage any other potential victims to
come forward and speak with police who may have felt that they couldn't
do so before. Anyone who feels they may have been a victim of
Mahmoud's is asked to contact Walthamstow Sapphire Unit at 020 8345 3276."
Source: Epping Forest Guardian
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