Sex attack cab driver banned and twice reinstated

Zahoor Mahmood was banned from driving private hire cabs by Sheffield Council in 2005 and 2007 after he was convicted of drug offences, but both bans were overturned by magistrates on appeal.

Last June, Mahmood was driving a minicab when he picked up a woman outside a nightclub in Attercliffe, Sheffield, drove her to a deserted location, offered her cocaine and sexually assaulted her.

The woman escaped and called police, who arrested Mahmood, but he was bailed and just three weeks later picked up a 17-year-old girl who was also taken to a quiet location and assaulted.

Sentencing the 40-year-old father-of-four to eight years in prison at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday, Judge Simon Lawler branded him a “sexual predator” and said: “You seem to think women are easy prey.”

He told the driver, who had worked for Sheffield’s City Taxis firm: “You used your position as a taxi driver to target young women and I am entirely satisfied you engineered these situations.”

Mahmood was sentenced after being found guilty following a week-long trial in May this year of two offences of sexual assault and two of false imprisonment.

Coun John Robson, chairman of Sheffield’s licensing committee said after the hearing: “We did not consider Mahmood to be a fit and proper person to be a licensed driver. The magistrates court reinstated the licences.

“While we cannot comment on the reasons for their decision, the council was extremely uncomfortable that Mahmood was still able to drive a taxi.

“His actions were despicable and he has rightly been given a prison sentence.”

The court heard Mahmood was addicted to crack cocaine, and had also offered cocaine to both his victims, telling the first: “This will chill you out and will get you in the mood.”

Another 17-year-old girl told the court she’ had sex with Mahmood in return for him supplying her with cocaine.

She had met him after he propositioned her as he was driving past in his cab.

In victim impact statements read in court, both assault victims said they were now frightened to use taxis while the 17-year-old had also cancelled driving lessons because she had a male instructor.

The first victim said she had been left “totally devastated” and added “If I had not put up such a fight when I was being attacked the taxi driver would have raped me.”

Danny Simpson, for Mahmood, said he was a family man who had worked as a taxi driver for 15 years and suffered this “out of character” episode which “must have been triggered by his use of crack cocaine.”

He had not offered violence or threatened either of his two victims once he realised they would not consent.

Judge Lawler said his first victim’s ordeal lasted two hours and 20 minutes and the second for nearly an hour. “You abused your position of trust to members of the public,” he said.

He tried to get both women to snort cocaine but “fortunately they had their wits about them”, the judge said, and added: “You hoped by a combination of drink and drugs to take advantage of them for your own purposes.”

The judge praised both women “for their courage in dealing with the situation that night.”

“They were both frightened and scared witless by your general behaviour. The effect upon them was clear for all to see in the witness box and remains with them.”

He gave Mahmood an extended sentence for public protection under which he will serve an eight-year jail term and three years on licence after he is released.

He has also been given a Sexual Offenders Prevention order banning him from driving public service vehicles.