An Uber driver, who subjected a lone young woman to a Halloween horror when he exposed himself during their extended journey while asking for sex, has been sentenced.
Nadeem Afzal, 51, deliberately took a longer route from north to south London while trying to persuade the woman, in her early twenties, to perform sex acts on him.
Fortunately the victim used her phone to make an audio recording of Afzal’s sleazy demands, which was used as evidence against him.
The Pakistani national, of Limes Avenue, Chigwell pleaded guilty to exposure in the early hours of November 1, last year and was committed by Wimbledon Magistrates Court to Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court for sentencing.
On Thursday he was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment, suspended for two years and must sign the sex offenders register for ten years.
Afzal was also made subject to a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The woman had been out on Halloween and used the Uber App to request a cab home and Afzal arrived to collect her for what should have been a forty minute journey.
However, twenty minutes into the journey Afzal exposed himself to her and asked several times for her to touch him intimately.
She refused, but continued recording his sexually-explicit requests.
After nearly two hours in the vehicle she was eventually dropped-of at a takeaway near her home in south-west London.
When she got home she immediately called the police and Afzal was quickly identified.
It took nearly a year for him to be charged with the offence.
Sergeant Jonny Harris of the Metropolitan Police’s Roads and Transport Command said: “Afzal preyed on this female passenger in his minicab and was extremely persistent in his sexual advances and behaviour, leaving the passenger feeling scared and vulnerable.
“The victim showed courage coming forward to police and reporting Afzal, who is now a registered sex offender and can no longer work as a cab driver.”
Mandy McGregor, Head of Transport Policing and Community Safety at Transport for London said: “Nobody should ever be subjected to this kind of revolting and predatory behaviour and we are pleased to hear that Afzal has been brought to justice for his actions.
“We applaud the bravery of the victim for coming forward.
“We expect the highest standards from TfL licensed taxi and private hie drivers, which is why Afzal is no longer a licensed driver.
“We take every report seriously so it can be investigated by the police.”
No comments:
Post a Comment