A taxi driver has been jailed for sexually assaulting a teenager after picking him up in Heckmondwike.
Mohammed Amin indecently touched the passenger while driving his taxi, Leeds Crown Court heard.
The incident took place six weeks before the student’s A Level exams last year.
The 44-year-old had picked up the boy from the Morrisons car park in Heckmondwike to take him home.
Judge Robin Mairs told Amin: “He was fearful, not just of what was happening inside the car, he was fearful you would crash. He was clearly in a vulnerable position.”
When they arrived at the house, the teen paid the full fare and Amin asked him for his phone number.
The victim, who was described in court as shocked, tearful and clearly upset, took down the car’s registration plate before going inside and phoning his family.
When interviewed by police, Amin, of Buller Court in the Harehills area of Leeds, alleged the teen did not have enough money for the fare and offered sex as payment.
The court heard that the victim’s A Level results suffered as a result. He is now paranoid about who he can trust and he is seeking counselling.
Amin, who needed a Mirpur Punjabi interpreter in court, had pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault and after a trial date was set he asked his solicitor if it could be rearranged because he would be out of the country ... and it was.
But he still failed to attend his trial at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court in July, was tried in his absence and was found guilty.
In November, he pleaded guilty to one count of failure to surrender.
Sentencing him to 10 months’ imprisonment the judge said: “The public are entitled to expect that their taxi drivers will act appropriately.
“You were an opportunist who took advantage of a young man and this offence is so serious that only immediate custody can be justified.”
The judge also made a restraining order for 10 years and ordered Amin to be placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. He also made a sexual harm prevention order.
