Bogus taxi driver who abducted and sexually assaulted woman after night out jailed for 20 months

A bogus taxi driver who abducted a 22-year-old woman near a nightclub before driving her to a darkened spot where he sexually assaulted her has been jailed for 20 months.

Mahmoud Kalawizada, 32, who is from Syria, touched the woman sexually and demanded oral sex on a “traumatic” journey from Stirling to Clackmannanshire.

Kalawizada, classed by social workers as a risk to women, was told by a sheriff that a custodial sentence was “clearly required”.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that Kalawizada, who held no taxi licence, had parked his unmarked dark blue 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, said she assumed his car was a taxi because of where it was waiting and asked Kalawizada if he was “booked”.

He said he 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 oral sex to settle the fare.

He eventually turned into a quiet, dark 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 said 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 where the attack occurred.

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, of Stirling, denied sexual assault, abducting the woman by offering taxi services when not licensed as a taxi driver, stopping unnecessarily at various locations that were not her requested destination, and using his car for hire or reward without insurance. The incidents happened on August 14, 2022.

Giving evidence in Arabic through an interpreter, he 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.

He appeared for sentence on Monday after a jury in October found him guilty.

Referring to Kalawizada’s immigration status, advocate John Brannigan, defending, said he had suffered “a great deal of trauma in his upbringing, given its location” and had been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Mr Branningan said Kalawizada had been able to secure “unskilled or temporary work”.

Imposing the jail term, Sheriff Craig Harris said: “The case is serious, involving a high level of culpability. It involved both deception and breaching the trust the complainer placed in you thinking you were a legitimate taxi driver.

“The offence was terrifying for the complainer.”

Kalawizada showed no emotion as he was led from the courtroom downstairs to the cells, but four women – whom Mr Brannigan said were female family members who had come to court to support the accused – began a continuous wailing, two kneeling, and one clinging to the back of the dock, before being asked to leave by a court officer.

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.”