Alleged victim who met taxi-driver on Asian dating website thought he was 'a successful doctor' Farhan Mirza, 38, of Abertillery covers his face with a jacket as he leaves Cardiff Crown Court
One of Farhan Mirza's alleged victims told jurors how she thought he was a successful doctor but instead was a taxi driver living with his mother in a small terrace house in Abertillery.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he told her at the start of their relationship his name was Ahsan Mirza who worked at a hospital in Bristol.
For their first date he had arrived in a 4x4 Mercedes and carried a medical stethoscope and when they went back to his bedroom for sex she saw green medical scrubs hanging up in his wardrobe.
The complainant, who was single, said she had met Mirza on the Muslim dating website Shaadi.com in March 2014 and they exchanged messages and telephone calls before arranging to meet a few weeks later.
"He portrayed himself as being single, never married and a doctor," she told Cardiff Crown Court.
"I can't remember what sort of doctor he was but he said he was a doctor in Bristol and he seemed to be working quite a lot when he called me."
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, gave evidence by video link and told the court that they first met in Abertillery and they had consensual sex at his house later that day.
"One thing led to another and we ended up sleeping together. After that we fell asleep and I woke up a couple of hours later and panicked. I was shocked I had done that given my beliefs," she said.
"It was not something I had ever done before and it was really against my grain to sleep with someone the first time I met them. Thinking about it I couldn't understand how I got there."
The court heard the woman and Mirza kept in contact and met again a few weeks later.
"He said the majority of his family were all doctors and well educated and affluent," she said. "A lot of airs and graces about his family. He said his dad was living in America and his mother was living with him."
The complainant, a university graduate, said they went out on dates to the cinema or out for coffee or meals and she would always pay.
"I have never known anyone like him before," she said. "We would go out for meals and he would always expect me to pay. There was a gut feeling that something wasn't quite ringing true."
The court heard Mirza and the woman were a couple for nearly a year until she ended it - telling jurors she had tired of constantly "bankrolling" him.
"I didn't think he had very good morals. I knew he had lied about quite a few things and I'd lost interest by then."
Eventually Mirza told her his first name was actually Farhan and when he showed her his driving licence she realised he was older than he was making out, the court heard.
"He had lied about his age and made himself out to be younger," she said. "In one conversation he said he wasn't a doctor and he worked as an IT consultant. I later discovered he was a taxi driver.
"At that point, ever since I met him, I had this gut feeling that something wasn't right. I did have a little look on Google but nothing came up for his name."
The woman said Mirza, who drove a small Mazda, would ask her for small amounts of cash - usually around £50 - and she would always say no.
She told jurors that one time he told her his bank account had been frozen and could she buy him a laptop and a mobile phone.
Andrew Taylor, defending, suggested to the woman that she knew Mirza had filmed her after she had taken a shower and was angry with him because the police had found the footage.
He asked the woman whether she found it "surprising" that a man who claimed to be a doctor lived in a small terrace house in Abertillery.
She replied: "I was surprised at first but he told me the reason was that because of his mum he was living there. Later he said it was because of his daughter."
Mr Taylor asked: "I am going to suggest to you that he never once described himself as a medical doctor."
She replied: "He did. Had he disclosed to me that he was a taxi driver it wouldn't have bothered me at all, but he didn't. I was misled. He made the point of getting the stethoscope out of the car and taking it into the house.
"In his bedroom he had green scrubs - they were in his built-in wardrobe. One side was open and you could see the scrubs hanging out."
source:
http://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/149082 ... l_doctor_/
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