Locations
Watkiss Way, Cardiff, Wales, CF11
Description
A taxi driver asked to use a customer's toilet in her house before forcing his way into her bedroom and raping her. He later denied the sexual attack but his DNA was found on a carpet.
Jakir Hussain, 39, picked up his victim in Cardiff city centre on November 19 last year and drove her back to her home as a paid fare. At the end of the journey, he got into the back of the taxi and locked the doors until she agreed to let him use the toilet in her home.
Despite her protestations, Hussain then made his way into her bedroom and pushed her over the bed before bending her double and pushing her face into the mattress so she struggled to breathe. He removed some of her clothing raped her without using protection.
A sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard the defendant's DNA was discovered that linked him to the scene. Hussain, a married father, was traced by CCTV and arrested but he denied any sexual activity took place. He later changed his story, and claimed everything which had taken place was consensual but he was found guilty of rape following a trial.
Reading out a statement to the court, the victim said she was no longer able to remain in her home, due to it being the scene of the rape and causing flashbacks. She said the trauma of being raped had led her to attempting to take her own life.
She said: "Since this incident I have tried to avoid sleep because I am taken back to the night of the incident. I see (the defendant's) face in my head and can remember what he did to me, including flashbacks to parts of the incident such as being trapped in a taxi....
"Immediately following the incident I could barely walk into my room or look at my bed as it triggered flashbacks. I had to see the cut carpet in my bedroom which further reminded me of events. I could only be in my room with the lights on due to the defendant coming into the room during the incident and turning the lights off, making me fear the darkness....
"Since the incident I have not felt able to get into a taxi, I have a complete distrust of all taxi drivers and even impacts me to the extent if female friends go on a night out I will offer to drive them home in the middle of the night. I no longer consider taxis to be safe. I put my trust in what I thought was a professional to take me safely home that night. This has impacted me in all aspects of my life and I'm more likely to distrust other professionals who may be trying to help me."
In mitigation, Hussain, of Watkiss Way, Grangetown, was said to be of previous good character and had lived in the UK for eight years. He is due to become a father for the third time, and financially support his family in the UK and overseas.
Sentencing, Recorder Eugene Egan said: "(The victim) was entitled, as a bare minimum, to be taken safely to the street where she lived by you and to be treated respectfully by you.... You were in a position of trust towards her, a position of trust you grossly abused...
"You asked her to use the toilet as a ruse to gain access to her house, you gained entry by guile. No taxi driver should ever be asking to use the toilet of a female fare passenger. You just wanted to get into her house."
Hussaun was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment, and will at least two thirds of the sentence before he is released. He was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and sex offender notification requirements for life. He was also made subject to a restraining order and barred from working as a taxi driver indefinitely.