An Uber driver has been convicted of sexually assaulting a passenger when she was in an "extremely vulnerable" condition.
Temur Shah, 45, of Harrow, north-west London, committed the offence in the early hours of January 15 last year.
He picked up the 27-year-old victim, who was feeling unwell, from the West End, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
During the journey, Shah stopped the car and insisted she sat beside him in the front.
Shortly after they continued their journey, the passenger said she was going to vomit.
Shah stopped the cab and leaned over to open the front passenger door for her, the court heard.
While doing this, he touched her sexually, continuing to do so even as she leaned out of the vehicle being sick.
The passenger stayed in the minicab following the assault as she had no battery left on her phone to call for assistance, and no money.
She told Shah not to touch her again.
Afterwards, Shah dropped her off near her home in north London, from which she reported the assault to the police.
He was found guilty of sexual assault on Monday following a one-week trial. He has been bailed ahead of sentencing at the same court on November 12.
Det Supt Andy Cox said on Tuesday: "Shah despicably took advantage of his position as a trusted licensed driver and sexually assaulted a passenger in a vulnerable state.
"If you ever experience unwanted sexual behaviour, report it to the police. You will always be taken seriously and the incident will be fully investigated."
Mandy McGregor, head of TfL’s transport policing and community safety, added: "This attack on a vulnerable passenger was predatory and disgusting, and we are pleased to see that Shah has been convicted.
"I would like to thank the young woman for coming forward and reporting this so TfL and the police could investigate and take action against the driver.
"We expect the highest standards from TfL licensed taxi and private hire drivers. Not only has Shah been convicted but immediate licensing action was taken to prevent him from continuing in his role as a TfL licensed private hire driver."
TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :
Obviously TfL are scare to publish recent rape and serious sexual assaults statistics, so their website is allowed to lag behind to soften the effect on the public.
The latest stats they publish are for the year 2017
It’s interesting to point out that in the last 5 years, the recorded and publish statistics show that there are no complaints against licensed Taxi driver. Yet there are well over 600 private hire drivers, implicated, charged with rape and serious sexual assault.
Licensed drivers
Of the 34 rapes and 128 sexual assaults recorded in 2017.... only 21 private hire drivers have been charged for 24 offences. All were licensed private hire drivers at the time of the offence (including booked and unbooked journeys).
The list above is from TfL’s own website and it should be pointed out that out of the 24 actual convictions, only 2 were in unbooked private hire cars. 22 rapes and assaults were carried out in actual booker private hire cars.
So much for TfL’s publicity campaign that states "if it’s not booked, you are at risk".
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