A TAXI DRIVER who sexually assaulted three young women within two weeks has had his case adjourned to allow for the preparation of a psychological report.
Mansoor Uddin (41), a married father of three, sexually assaulted two of the women on the same night after demanding that one of them get out of his taxi when he saw her trying to get a photo of his identification.
As part of his bail conditions a female passenger is not permitted to be a front seat passenger in Uddin’s taxi.
This 18-year-old victim had also called a friend while in the vehicle and gave her Uddin’s name and some of his taxi number. She tried to take a photograph of Uddin but he stopped her.
Sergeant Aoife Cronin told Sinéad McMullan BL, prosecuting, that gardaí used CCTV footage, a database of registered public service vehicles and a computer generated likeness from the first victim to identify Uddin.
As part of the garda investigation, officers also used GPS coordinates from the Hailo app which confirmed that Uddin had travelled the three routes the women had outlined to gardaí.
Uddin, of Castleway, Adamstown, Lucan, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexual assault on 30 January 2016 and two sexual assaults on 16 February, 2016.
Judge Sinéad Ní Chulacháin adjourned the case to 8 May, next, for sentence and remanded Uddin on continuing bail.
First victim
Sergeant Cronin told McMullan that the first woman – a 19-year-old German national – continually pushed Uddin’s hand away as he rubbed her knee and leg while driving. He told her she had “a beautiful heart”.
He also touched her chest area and rubbed her cheek, telling her that she was “the most beautiful girl of the night”.
The woman bit Uddin’s finger when he touched her cheek and told him she wanted to get out of the car.
She threw money at him and managed to get out but he drove alongside her, rolled down his window and told she could keep the money if she would just give him a kiss.
He asked her to get back into the car but she refused. She reported Uddin to the gardaí the following day.
Cronin agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that as part of his bail conditions a female passenger is not permitted to be a front seat passenger in Uddin’s taxi.
In a victim impact statement she said she wouldn’t allow her boyfriend to touch her where Uddin had touched her. She felt scared and numb and had problems sleeping at night.
She didn’t trust her friends and became isolated. She later attended for weekly counselling. She still finds it difficult to get a taxi, particularly at night.
Second victim
The second victim, a 20-year-old woman, got into Uddin’s taxi upset having had an argument with her boyfriend. He asked her why she was crying and told her not to be upset because she was beautiful.
He wiped away her tears and rubbed her face and lip before brushing his hand down the right side of her body. When she arrived at her home he asked her if she needed a hug before he leaned in towards her as if to kiss her.
The woman got out of the car and Uddin drove off at speed. She was later able to provide gardaí with a partial registration number.
The woman was traumatised after the incident and lost trust in taxi drivers. She worries about the safety of others in taxis and felt ashamed for allowing herself to be so vulnerable.
She doesn’t sit in the front passenger seat of a taxi anymore and tries to always have someone with her when she needs to get one. She said she is more self-conscious when she hears someone coming from behind her or towards her.
Third victim
The third woman, an 18-year-old school girl, got into Uddin’s taxi an hour later. He immediately began rubbing her leg telling her how soft her skin was. She pushed him away and he tried to get his hand into her underwear.
Uddin asked her what age she was and when she told him he smiled and said she was “really young”.
Cronin said this girl noticed that Uddin’s identification was behind the CD player. She accepted a call from a friend while in the taxi and tried to give her some of the details she could read off his identification.
Uddin became very angry, leaned across her, opened her door and told her to get out. She tried to take a photograph of him but he stopped her doing so.
She accepted that he is a Pakistan national who is married with two teenage daughters and a younger son.
Clarke said the three women were “young vulnerable people who were relying on him to bring them home safely and he didn’t do that”.
Clarke will address the court with a plea in mitigation on the next date.
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