Taxi Driver Online

Bradford taxi driver jailed after raping woman passenger



A Bradford taxi driver who raped a passenger while she was almost unconscious has been jailed for nine years.

Assad Khan, who had worked as a taxi driver for over 20 years, even used his victim’s bank card to steal £250 from her account instead of withdrawing just the £25 for the fare when they stopped at a cashpoint machine during the journey in the early hours.

A judge at Bradford Crown Court said on Wednesday after taking the woman to her home, Khan then “barged” his way in uninvited and while she was almost unconscious on the sofa, he raped her.

After the attack last year, 55-year-old Khan used the woman’s key to lock the front door and then posted it back through the letterbox. When the horrified victim later woke up, she said she felt disgusted but initially she was too embarrassed to tell anyone what had happened.

A few days later however, Khan, of John Street, Clayton, turned up on her doorstep and tried to defend his actions saying she could get him into trouble. Recorder Ben Nolan KC said he had no doubt that Khan was trying to find out if she could remember what had happened and try to persuade her not to take any action citing his need to keep his job.

The court heard the woman did report the attack to the police and when Khan was arrested, he claimed she had consented. A week before he was due to stand trial this year, Khan, who is married with four children, finally pleaded guilty to charges of rape and theft which meant his victim no longer faced a distressing cross-examination in a court.

In a victim impact statement read to the judge by the complainant at a previous court hearing, the woman branded Khan “an utterly selfish and repugnant human being”.

Khan’s barrister Michael Collins outlined details of his mental health difficulties which related back to a tragic house fire when the defendant was just 10. He submitted that Khan had been untreated for years, but in a letter to the judge he had expressed genuine remorse for his offending.

Mr Collins said: “He looks back with shame and misunderstanding at his own conduct. He can’t help as to why he committed the offence.”

Recorder Nolan noted that one consultant psychiatrist believed that Khan was feigning symptoms and exaggerating his behaviour. The judge said Khan had shown “criminal guile” in carrying out the offence and he had abused his position of trust as a taxi driver.

Khan will have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and he will also have to comply with an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. Recorder Nolan also imposed a lifelong restraining order which bans Khan from having any future contact with the woman.

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IDFIMH

this is the sort of thing you might expect to see once a year not once a week it just seems to be increasing year in year out

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Very sad indeed.

But it appears the police/CPS are taking many more of these cases seriously and putting them before a jury, which in turn gives the impression that these attacks are more prevalent.

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IDFIMH