Bogus taxi driver abducted and sexually assaulted woman after night out in Stirling

A bogus taxi driver abducted a woman before driving her to a darkened spot where he sexually assaulted her.

Mahmoud Kalawizada, 32, who is from Syria, groped the 22-year-old woman and demanded she perform a sex act on a “traumatic” journey from Stirling to Clackmannanshire on August 14, 2022.

A court heard Kalawizada, who held no taxi licence, had parked his dark blue unmarked BMW in a loading bay next to an official taxi rank in Stirling town centre, near the city’s Fubar nightclub, at around 1am.

His victim, who was looking for a cab home after a night out, told a jury she assumed his car was a taxi because of where it was waiting and asked Kalawizada if he was “booked”.

He said wasn’t, and she gave him her address. She got into the front passenger seat because the rear doors “appeared to be locked”.

But instead of taking her home, Kalawizada drove her to Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, making two unscheduled stops on the way, once at a McDonald’s and once to demand she perform a sex act.

He eventually turned into a darkened residential road.

His victim said: “I was terrified because it wasn’t where I lived.”

Kalawizada stopped the car and she heard a “click” she thought came from the doors being child-locked.

She told the jury she tried to get out but could not open her door, and Kalawizada stroked her hair and tried to climb over the central console to straddle her.

He pulled up her skirt and put his hand on her upper thigh.

She said: “I screamed as loud as I could to try to get someone’s attention.

“I think my loud scream scared him because I then managed to get the door open and I got out.”

Kalawizada drove off while the victim phoned her boyfriend in tears. Her boyfriend came to collect her.

She said: “I couldn’t comprehend what had happened. It was very traumatic.”

Police were called and checked CCTV cameras where the attack occurred.

There were no visuals of the crime, but a sound recording captured a “high-pitched scream” followed by a woman’s voice “whimpering” at 1.56am.

The recording was played in court.

Stirling Council confirmed Kalawizada was not a licensed taxi driver.

Kalawizada, now of North London, who was living in Stirling at the time, denied sexual assault, abducting the woman by offering taxi services when not licensed as a taxi driver and stopping unnecessarily at various locations that were not her requested destination, and using his car for hire or reward without insurance.

Giving evidence in Arabic through an interpreter, Kalawizada claimed he had been in Stirling town centre after having dinner with friends, and that the woman had approached him and asked for a lift. He said he had agreed because he “felt sorry for her” and denied he had touched her or made sexual remarks.

At Falkirk Sheriff Court on Thursday, at the end of a three-day trial, jurors took less than 90 minutes to find him guilty of all charges.

Sheriff Craig Harris remanded him in custody for reports until November 19.

Explaining his decision to revoke bail, he told Kalawizada that he had been convicted of “predatory sexual behaviour against a young woman”.

He said: “That conviction involved the deception to her of being a taxi driver… and shows the danger to the public that you present.”

Sheriff Harris said that the Appeal Court had stated previously that those who preyed on young women requiring a taxi and then sexually assaulted them “should be in no doubt that the courts will take a very serious view”.

He added: “You require to be remanded as there is a substantial risk of you committing further offences if granted bail.”

Defence advocate John Brannigan said Kalawizada worked part-time as an upholsterer, and though he now lived in London, he still had family in Stirling.

He said his client was a first offender.

According to Companies House, Kalawizada is also the sole director of a recently-incorporated London-based motor maintenance firm.

Prosecutor Rachel Wallace, the depute fiscal, said: “Kalawizada posed as a taxi driver, agreed to take the complainer home, asked for payment in the way of sexual favours, and when she refused he began to take what he wanted.”

Kalawizada appeared grim-faced as he was led to the cells.