- Mohammed Malik, 30, posed as a taxi driver to sexually assault a woman
- He picked up a 20-year-old and drove her to to a secluded area in Newcastle
- Malik then dragged her into the back seat and violently assaulted her
- Three men made a note of the registration number and text it to police
Mohammed Malik, 30, has been jailed for 11 years after he posed as a taxi driver to kidnap and sexually assault a drunk 20-year-old woman
A man who posed as a taxi driver to kidnap and sexually assault a drunk 20-year-old woman has been jailed for 11 years.
Mohammed Malik, 30, parked his black estate car next to a taxi rank and waited for a young woman to climb in before driving her to a secluded spot in the West End of Newcastle.
He dragged her into the back seat by her arms and legs and subjected her to a sexual assault despite her screams of 'No', Newcastle Crown Court heard.
'I felt scared, ashamed and embarrassed at what happened,' the victim said in a statement.
'I often lock myself in my room and put my headphones on and dance round to try to forget.
'At night I can't bear getting in a taxi again in case this happens again so I have to rely on my family.
'The trial has been the most difficult and scary time of my life and being in the same building as him was sickening.
'At times I felt as if I was to blame for it and like I was the one on trial.'
She said she has lost her relationship with her boyfriend due to the stress and trauma of the assault.
'I'm no longer able to trust men and couldn't be close to my boyfriend,' she said.
The woman had been out celebrating a birthday with friends in March when she started looking for a taxi at around 4am.
She got into Malik's black VW Golf estate near popular complex The Gate, on Newgate Street, and asked to be taken the short distance to the place she was staying with friends.
As she was a stranger to Newcastle, she didn't realise she was only 200 yards from where she needed to go.
Prosecutor Julian Smith said: 'Unfortunately for her, the car she got into, believing it to be a taxi, is nothing of the sort.
'She found herself in the defendant's car, who drove her to a secluded area to the west of the city, away from the city centre. He would not let her leave the car or take her to her friends or the place where she was staying.
'He took her away under false pretences, he would not let her leave and he then took the opportunity to seriously sexually assault her.'
CCTV shows Malik's car driving down the road away from the Haymarket and it stops in the lay-by taxi rank outside Debenham's.
Three men saw the woman getting into the car, which they noticed was not a taxi.
They made a note of the registration number and text it to police. This would ultimately help nail Malik but could not stop the attack.
When the woman was examined they found bruising to her arms and legs.
Malik was arrested later the same day as a result of his number plate having been sent to the police.
His DNA was also recovered from the victim's clothing.
Malik, 30, denied kidnap and sexual assault but was convicted after a trial last month.
Judge John Milford QC, who said he could not be sure the attack was pre-planned, told Malik he must sign the sex offender register for life and jailed him for 11 years.
The judge said: 'This was a case of abduction and there was prolonged detention and it was a sustained incident.
'(The woman) was particularly vulnerable due to the fact she was inebriated.'
Malik's barrister said he had lost an 'awful lot' as a result of the offence, including his fish and chip shop and other properties he managed.
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