Falkirk taxi driver sexually assaulted lone teenager as he drove her home from a night out

A taxi driver sexually assaulted a lone teenage girl as he drove her home from a night out.

Jaswinder Singh preyed on the 18-year-old who he had picked up at a taxi rank in Falkirk town centre in the early hours of February 4, 2024.

She had been directed to his cab by taxi marshals after leaving a nearby nightclub following a night out with friends.

Singh then sexually assaulted her within the taxi.

Giving evidence, the victim said she had “panicked” when Singh stopped the car at the end of the journey following the assault.

Once out of the car, she ran home, let herself in, and went straight to her father and stepmother’s room, where she was “very upset, borderline hysterical”.

She told her father what had happened, and he phoned the police.

The first officer on the scene described the victim as “completely distraught”.

Singh was later arrested and his DNA was found on the victim. The 51-year-old from Falkirk denied sexual assault.

After a two-day trial, a jury of eight men and seven women took less than an hour to find him guilty.

Gordon Addison, defence solicitor, said Singh was a first offender and had no other cases outstanding.

Sheriff Maryam Labaki revoked bail and remanded Singh in custody for reports and a risk assessment.

Sentence was deferred until February 25.

Ordering that Singh should be placed on the sex offenders’ register, Sheriff Labaki told him: “The complainer was a vulnerable young person trusting you to deliver her home safely. You gravely breached that position of trust by sexually assaulting her.”

Prosecutor Alistair McDermid said Singh, a taxi driver for 16 years, had subjected his lone and vulnerable victim to “a terrifying and vicious sexual assault”.