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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 8:35 pm 
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SEX FIEND CAGED

Teen who lured Fife woman into car after claiming to be taxi driver before raping her with accomplice jailed


https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/4 ... dy-jailed/

Abel Muntean, 19, posed as a cabbie to assault the 20-year-old after a night out

A TEENAGER who lured a drunk woman into a car after claiming to be a taxi driver before raping her with an accomplice was jailed today.

Abel Muntean, 19, picked up the woman on the morning of New Year's Day and abducted and raped her before driving her to a house where his co-accused Raul Novac also raped her.

Romanian Novac, 34, was also jailed after he was convicted of the sex attack following a trial in which the pair had denied raping the woman who was intoxicated and incapable of giving consent.

A judge labelled their crimes "appalling" at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Lord Uist said: "In your case, Abel Muntean, you have been convicted by the jury of rape committed by yourself and being an accessory to the rape committed by the second accused."

"This kind of violence against women cannot be tolerated in any civilised society."

Lord Uist added: "Each of you should be in no doubt that in due course you will be sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment."

Muntean, who was 17 at the time, pretended to the woman at Hunter Street, Kirkcaldy, in Fife, on January 1 in 2017 that the car he had was a taxi and induced her to enter the vehicle.

He then took her in the car to the Esplanade at Kirkcaldy and took off her dress and sexually assaulted and raped her.

Muntean then drove her to a house in the town's Nelson Street where Novac also raped the woman.

The 20-year-old woman - who had been reported as a missing person - told the court that she had gone out for New Year's Eve with others after drinking and was planning to go clubbing.

She said she was working earlier in the evening and consuming drink then, as well as drinking at a colleague's home, admitting she was drunk by the time they headed out.

She had more vodkas at a club before she was asked to leave - but bouncers refused to tell her friends or let her back in to let them know.

She said she did not have credit on her phone and could not get in touch with anyone, planning to get a taxi to take her to a relative's home.

The woman said: "I can remember walking down the street a wee bit. I remember I was really drunk."

"There was lots of taxis about. I thought one of them is bound to be able to take me.

"Then I saw someone getting into a car that looked like a taxi. I opened the door and asked him if he was a taxi and he could take me home and he said 'yes'."

She said the driver pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel's and offered her a drink, which she took and then blacked out.

The woman said: "I can't remember anything after that."

She said her next memory was waking up naked in a bed in a strange house.

She said: "My body was in agony."

Novac returned to Romania after he was freed on bail but was brought back to Scotland after he was later traced in Ireland.

Muntean, of Dornoch Place, Glenrothes, and Novac had denied the attacks but after they were found guilty sentence was deferred on them for the preparation of backgrounds reports and they were remanded in custody.

They were both placed on the sex offenders' register.


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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 9:18 pm 
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So very sad. :sad: :sad: :sad:

I wonder how many of these incidents go unpunished. :sad: :sad: :sad:

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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2019 11:31 am 
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was he 17 or 19 ?

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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2019 5:06 pm 
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edders23 wrote:
was he 17 or 19 ?


He was 17 at the time of the offence, as stated in the article :-s

Quote:
Muntean, who was 17 at the time, pretended to the woman at Hunter Street, Kirkcaldy, in Fife, on January 1 in 2017 that the car he had was a taxi and induced her to enter the vehicle.


Thought it useful to highlight his age at the time of the offence in the thread title, because obviously very young and not long passed driving test, assuming he was even a qualified driver.

If he's 19 now and offence took place on 1 January 2017 then he must have been around 17 and-a-half years old *maximum*, for what it's worth.


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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2019 7:53 pm 
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Quote:
"There was lots of taxis about. I thought one of them is bound to be able to take me.

"Then I saw someone getting into a car that looked like a taxi. I opened the door and asked him if he was a taxi and he could take me home and he said 'yes'."


Wondered about that, particularly since it's my council territory.

Another report clarifies things slightly:

Fife Today wrote:
“There was lots of taxis about. I thought one of them is bound to be able to take me.” she said. Those she approached were booked or waiting for someone.

She told the court: “Then I saw someone getting into a car that looked like a taxi. I opened the door and asked ‘could you take me home?’ He said ‘yes’.” She said it looked like there was a meter.


Could say a lot more as a driver in this council area, but on the other hand Kirkcaldy seems like a different world, and it might as well have happened in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Dundee as far as my local knowledge is concerned.

In fact I know the whole night economy scene in Dundee a lot better than Kirkcaldy, and it must be a couple of years since I've had a fare to Kirkcaldy, but had two to Dundee on Saturday night.

And the average driver in my part of (East) Fife much more likely to get a fare to Edinburgh than Kirkcaldy. Ditto the other two major towns in Fife - Dunfermline and Glenrothes (which was where the main accused was living, and is just ten minutes' drive from Kirkcaldy).

Anyway, for what it's worth here's a photo of the two accused. The teenager is the one on the right, which I suppose most people would guess correctly, but only just.

Image
Image: Police Scotland/STV News


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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2019 9:11 pm 
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Not sure that fella is 17 or 19.

Maybe one of those that came on the boats pretending to be a youth. :-k

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PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2019 9:26 am 
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Sussex wrote:
Not sure that fella is 17 or 19.

Maybe one of those that came on the boats pretending to be a youth. :-k


Kinda got one of these faces that if you said he was either a teenager or a thirty-something then you wouldn't think twice about it.

But Romanians have been able to move to the UK without restriction for a few years now, so if there is a question mark about his age with regard to moving here then maybe that happened more than a few years ago?

Anyway, suspect that more will come out about his background when they're sentenced.


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PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2019 5:53 pm 
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Welcome to the EU where the UK takes all of their sh!t.


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PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2019 7:34 pm 
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Nidge2 wrote:
Welcome to the EU where the UK takes all of their sh!t.

Well if Sturgeon has her way Scotland will continue welcoming said sh** ad infinitum. [-(

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PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2019 11:45 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
Nidge2 wrote:
Welcome to the EU where the UK takes all of their sh!t.

Well if Sturgeon has her way Scotland will continue welcoming said sh** ad infinitum. [-(


Maybe, but not because an independent Scotland would be a member of the EU, because Scotland would very probably be out of the EU for a few years after independence, even assuming we ever became a member.

Despite her posturing, Sturgeon not really that worried about EU membership, as was demonstrated in 2014, when SNP quite willing to contemplate being out of the EU if it meant 'independence' for Scotland. Her stance is simply about engineering 'independence'.

And, of course, the reason I put the word 'independence' in brackets is because you can't be truly 'independent' if you have Brussels cracking the whip. As even former SNP bigwigs have said, what's the point of swapping London with Brussels?

Her latest stunt is more about stirring things up again, and appealing to the kind of people who live and breath Scottish nationalism, and who are getting increasingly restless. If she was really serious about it she'd name a date and see how Westminster reacts, but I don't think she will, because she knows it's unwinnable, and naming a date and not following through would destroy her politically.


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:27 pm 
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Quote:
and naming a date and not following through would destroy her politically.

As Mrs May has clearly shown.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 8:08 pm 
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Fake taxi driver jailed for Kirkcaldy rape and abduction

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/crime/ ... -1-4959270

A teenage rapist who posed as a taxi driver to snare a young woman in Kirkcaldy who was subjected to sex attacks was today jailed for 10 years.

Abel Muntean (19) picked up the woman on New Year’s Day morning in Kirkcaldy, and abducted and raped her before delivering her to a house where his accomplice Raul Novac subjected her to a further rape ordeal.

Romanian Novac (34) was also jailed for five years after he was convicted of the sex attack following a trial in which the pair had denied raping the woman who was intoxicated and incapable of giving consent.

He was sentenced to a further two years and three months after fleeing justice and failing to appear in court at an earlier scheduled hearing.

A judge told Muntean at the High Court in Edinburgh: “You were convicted by the jury of shocking, predatory and outrageous criminal conduct consisting of the abduction and two rapes of the same 18-year-old woman who was unknown to you.”

“You waited in your car outside a nightclub in Kirkcaldy in the early hours of New Years Day 2017 as it was emptying, flashed your car lights to draw her attention to you, pretended to her that your vehicle was a taxi and that you were a taxi driver and so induced her to enter your car,” he said.

“You then abducted her in the car, drove to the Esplanade at Kirkcaldy, removed her dress and raped her while she was intoxicated with alcohol and incapable of giving or withholding consent,”

“You thereafter took her to the house of your co-accused and provided her to him so that he could rape her. In other words you used her as an object for your own sexual gratification and that of your co-accused,” said the judge.

Lord Uist said: “As a result she has suffered permanent mental and emotional effects. Your behaviour towards her, which was obviously premeditated, can be described only as unspeakably wicked and wholly callous.”

The judge pointed out that Muntean has continued to deny the offences and shown no remorse. He said the teenage rapist posed a significant risk of further re-offending.

Lord Uist said he took into account Muntean’s age and lack of criminal record, but added: “On the other hand the crimes of which you were convicted are of such a grave nature that a very lengthy period in custody must be the outcome in order to punish you, deter you and others from committing such crimes and for the protection of the female public from harm from men such as you.”

He told Novac: “Your commission of this offence has been described as opportunistic, but you also have continued to deny your guilt and shown no remorse.”

The judge said that Novac’s decision to become a fugitive from justice, fleeing to Romania and then moving to Ireland, had resulted in considerable public expense with a European Arrest Warrant issued.

He told the two Romanians: “In the case of each of you it will be a matter for the Home Secretary to decide whether you should be deported on completion of your sentences.”

Muntean, who was 17 at the time, pretended to the woman at Hunter Street, in Kirkcaldy, on January 1 in 2017 that the car he had was a taxi and he was a cab driver and induced her to enter the vehicle before driving off and raping her.

Muntean then drove her to a house in the town’s Nelson Street where Novac also raped the woman, who had been reported as a missing person.

The woman, now 20, told their earlier trial that she had gone out for New Years Eve with others after drinking and was planning to go clubbing.

She went to a colleague’s home to get ready to go out and more alcohol was purchased.

The woman said that by the time they were ready to head out she was drunk. She had more vodkas at a club before she was asked to leave.

She said she told the bouncers that she needed to get her friends and let them know and added: “They wouldn’t let me back in. They wouldn’t get them either.”

She said she did not have credit on her phone and could not get in touch with anyone. She planned to get a taxi to take her to a relative’s home.

The woman said: “I can remember walking down the street a wee bit. I remember I was really drunk.” She borrowed another woman’s phone and tried to call for a cab.

“There was lots of taxis about. I thought one of them is bound to be able to take me.” she said. Those she approached were booked or waiting for someone.

She told the court: “Then I saw someone getting into a car that looked like a taxi. I opened the door and asked ‘could you take me home?’ He said ‘yes’.” She said it looked like there was a meter.

“I asked him if he was a taxi and he could take me home and he said ‘yes’,”, she said. She said he pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and asked her if she wanted a drink.

The woman said she took a drink and added: “I can’t remember anything after that.”

She said her next memory was waking up naked in a bed in a strange house. She said: “My body was in agony.”

Muntean, of Dornoch Place, Glenrothes, and father-of-three Novac had earlier denied the attacks but were found guilty.

Defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson argued that Muntean’s sentence should be reduced significantly because of his age and status as a child at the time of the crimes.

Lord Uist said: “In a sense it is all the more alarming that someone of his age should commit such serious crimes.”

The judge also pointed out that Muntean was a child who held a driving licence and could have got married without parental consent at the time.

Both Muntean and Novac were placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 8:11 pm 
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Quote:
Defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson argued that Muntean’s sentence should be reduced significantly because of his age and status as a child at the time of the crimes.

](*,)

Certainly sounds like a boy racer type who hangs around outside pubs and clubs, but don't think that gives him the status of a child :-s


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