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Cabbie Denies Assaulting Girl in Taxi
13th August 2008
A teenager wept today as she told a jury that an Oxford taxi driver sexually assaulted her in his cab.
The woman, who cannot be named, told the jury at Oxford Crown Court she was attacked by a Royal Cars driver who picked her up in Headington, Oxford.
Qazi Rehman, 27, denies one charge of sexual assault.
The teenager, who was 15 at the time of the incident, told the jury she called a taxi from a friend's house in Headington and waited outside at about 2am on Saturday, October 28, 2006.
She said a silver Volkswagen Passat pulled up and she got into the front passenger seat.
Referring to the driver, she said: "He was asking me what road I lived on and he asked me how old I was.
"We were having a normal conversation that I normally would if I got into a taxi.
"Then he asked to touch me. I said 'no' in a polite way. He asked again and I said 'no'. A couple of minutes later he then grabbed me."
The teenager said Rehman touched her inappropriately twice before making her touch him.
She said: "I tried to move my hand away to say 'no' but he kept trying to pull it. I told him to drive me to St Nicholas Road because I did not want him to drop me outside my house. It was nowhere near my house.
"I did not want to speak to him because I was in shock.
"As I went to get out he leaned towards me, he pointed to his cheek and then asked for a kiss and I said 'no'.
"I asked if he wanted payment and he said 'no'. I got out and ran into my friend's house and I just stood there to see if he would go. He then drove off and I went to my friend's house crying."
During cross-examination, the teenager said she did not want to name the friend whose house she had been at because she did not want to involve her in the trial.
She denied claims by Claire Fraser, defending Rehman, of Birch Court, Aylesbury, who suggested she had been picked up in Horspath Road, Cowley, rather than in Headington.
Miss Fraser said: "When he pulled up next to you, he actually said to you 'What are you doing up so late around here?'.
"When you got into the taxi do you remember saying to him you did not have any money?
"I am going to suggest to you that Mr Rehman did not touch you at all in any way that you have alleged.
"He did not touch you in any sexual manner at all.
"I am going to suggest that you gave him a kiss as a thank you."
The teenager denied all the claims.
Rebecca Crane, prosecuting, said Rehman later told police he had seen the teenager walking along the road and offered to give her a lift because she looked young.
She said: "He said he had done it out of the goodness of his heart and had not taken any payment."
The trial continues.
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Kind regards,
Brummie Cabbie.
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