Mostly rehash, and not much about the sentencing per se.
And I'll leave evaluating the sentence to others who might know a bit more about these things.
But at a rough guess I'd say he's lucky to avoid jail, at least compared to other broadly similar cases.
Edinburgh private hire driver who attacked vulnerable teen in car park avoids jailhttps://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/ed ... o-34289923'You took advantage of that position of trust and you exploited her vulnerability'A private hire taxi driver who sexually assaulted a vulnerable teenage schoolgirl in a secluded Edinburgh supermarket car park has escaped a jail sentence. Farrukh Naseem Butt pulled his silver VW into the car park and inappropriately touched the terrified 14-year-old during a journey to her home in Midlothian in February last year.
The 45-year-old pervert groped the victim's thigh before leaning over and kissing her on the lips. The sleazy cab driver then put his hand down the front of the child's jogging bottoms and touched her while he was driving her home.
Butt, from East Kilbride, was found guilty by a jury of the early morning sex attack following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month and returned to the dock for sentencing on Tuesday.
Sheriff Douglas Kier was told Butt continued to deny the offence and any prison sentence would leave his wife in a vulnerable position with three children to look after.
Lawyer Anna Kocela, defending, told the court her client was a first offender and is now unemployed following the jury's guilty verdict.
Sheriff Kier said: "I have read the [social work] report in some detail and heard from Ms Kocela on your behalf.
"As you are fully aware you have been found guilty of serious sexual offence against a 14-year-old girl who had placed her trust in you as a private hire driver. You took advantage of that position of trust and you exploited her vulnerability for your own personal gratification."
The sheriff said despite Butt continuing to deny the offence and had attempted to "minimise the consequence of your actions" he could impose a direct alternative to a custodial sentence. Butt was placed on a supervision order for three years and told he must carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.
He was also placed on the sex offenders register for three years and given a conduct requirement with conditions including a ban on contacting children under 16 and prohibited from attending play parks.
Sheriff Kier also imposed a programme requirement and ordered Butt to attend sessions with the sexual offenders rehabilitation programme Moving Forward Making Changes.
Previously the court heard evidence from the young victim who said she had been collected by Butt from a friends house in Edinburgh on at around 4.30am on February 16 last year. The teenager said he had told her to get in the front beside him and during the journey asked if he could stop off to smoke a cigarette.
He pulled into a dark secluded car park at the Sainsbury supermarket near to the city's Hillend where he groped and kissed her. She said: "He kissed me on the cheek and then snogged me. He put his tongue in my mouth - I told him to stop. I didn't feel comfortable."
The schoolgirl said Butt then continued the journey and had placed his hand down the front of her jogging pants. Butt told the trial he had been a private hire taxi driver for 18 years and said the reason he pulled into the supermarket car park was due to his vehicle overheating.
He told the jury while he was adding water to the engine the girl had voluntarily moved herself into the front seat as she said it was "more comfortable". Butt denied any allegation put to him that he had sexually assaulted the girl. He told the court: "I never touched her, it never happened like that."
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