Bogus taxi driver jailed for Chester sexual assault

A convicted sex offender who posed as a taxi driver before indecently assaulting a 22-year-old woman has been jailed for two years.

Nadeem Sultan, from Old Trafford, Greater Manchester attacked the woman last December when she flagged down what she thought was a taxi in Chester.

Sultan, 46, has a string of convictions for sexual offences going back to 1994, Chester Crown Court was told.

Police said he subjected his victim to a "terrifying ordeal".

"She was alone, trapped in a vehicle with a man she had never met before who had targeted her to fulfil his own sexual gratification," said Neighbourhood Inspector Emma Parry, of Cheshire Police.

"The victim placed her trust in Sultan, believing that he was a genuine taxi driver. He totally abused this trust."

The woman, had been on a night out with friends when they became separated and she flagged down Sultan's car on Eastgate Street believing it to be a taxi.

Once alone with the victim, Sultan began to stroke her leg and touch her inner thigh. The "terrified" woman later managed to escape when the car stopped.

Sultan, of Stamford Road was given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order by the court. He has also pleaded guilty to touting a private hire vehicle and driving without insurance.

The court was told he has previous convictions for kerb-crawling in 1994, indecently assaulting a girl under 14 in 1995, and having sex with a child under 16 in 2008.

Despite his history of sexual offending, Sultan was given a licence by Manchester City Council to drive a black cab in 2000. That decision was criticised by a judge at a separate hearing four years later.

A council spokesman said Sultan's taxi licence was suspended in 2003 and his subsequent reapplication was refused.