Fake taxi driver jailed for over two decades for series of sexual assault

TW: This story has mentions of rape and sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised. 

A man posing as a taxi driver has received a sentence of over 20 years after admitting to targeting and raping lone women leaving nightclubs. 

Nazim Asmal, 35, lured victims into his vehicle while they were on their way home from nights out. His victims believed that Asmal was a taxi driver and entered his vehicle in hopes of being taken to their homes. Instead, Asmal drove them to remote locations and carried out several sexual assaults against the women. 

Asmal, of Blackburn, admitted to four counts of rape at a hearing at Preston Crown Court last year but then tried to vacate his pleas, delaying his case. 

The court heard he still did not acknowledge his guilt and showed no remorse for his heinous crimes. 

Sara Haque, prosecutor, said the first two counts relate to offences against the same woman on October 3rd, 2021. 

on October 3rd, the police received a call from Dr Bullar reporting a drunk and distressed woman he had come across trying to enter a house as he drove home from his work in Preston. 

The doctor came to the woman’s aid, providing her with fresh clothes and offering her a place to sleep. She had lost the keys to her house, and her phone was out of charge. While the woman was sleeping in the doctor’s spare room, he called the police and explained what had happened. 

The police soon arrived, and the victim was taken away to be interviewed. She later told police that she had been on a night out with a housemate and had met up with two of her friends but had become separated from them later. 

She lost her keys in a nightclub, and her next memory was of being in a car with a man she described as an Asian male, the defendant, driving around in what seemed like remote countryside. 

She said at first, the defendant was pleasant, polite and friendly, but he soon began to touch her inappropriately, which she told him repeatedly to stop. 

He then climbed over the gear stick of the car and sexually assaulted the woman on two occasions, one of which she did not remember but was later proven by swab analysis. 

In a statement the victim read to the court herself, she said she still lives with the psychological impact of what happened and said her “old life had been shattered.” 

She said: “I am furious someone could do this to another person. No one deserves to be violated as I was and have their life turned upside down.” 

The next count related to an incident on April 8th, 2023, in Darwen. 

The victim called the police the morning after what happened to tell them she had got into a taxi, and on the way, the driver had taken a detour and “forced her to do things to him.” 

The victim told police she vaguely remembered getting into a taxi near The Vault and then heading towards Bolton, repeatedly telling the driver he was going the wrong way. 

She told the defendant she “just wanted to go home”, and at that point, he parked the car and sexually assaulted her before dropping her off near her house. 

Police identified the vehicle she got into as a Toyota Yaris, which was later located near Asmal’s house. 

Following Asmal’s arrest, a Samsung phone was seized and examined, which helped identify a third victim. 

The defendant was interviewed on April 10th and said he had been to the mosque in Blackburn before going to Darwen to pick up rent from a friend and to carry out market research on takeaways in town. 

He said a female had run towards the car and asked for a lift, which he initially refused. He then said they shared a cigarette in the car. 

He said there was consensual sexual activity once they were close to her house. 

In a victim impact statement read to the court by Ms Haque, the woman said her life had “changed completely” as a result of the incident, and she now had a “constant feeling of hypervigilance.” 

She said: “I’ll never be the same person again.” 

The third victim was identified by police as a result of an examination of the defendant’s phone after his arrest. 

She had been out in Darwen with friends and decided to walk home from The Bridgewater pub before the next thing she knew, she was in a car travelling towards Bolton. 

Asmal parked the car and began kissing and touching her inappropriately before assaulting her. She recalled how the defendant then dropped her at home before she went upstairs to her bedroom, trying to understand what had happened.   

Asmal was arrested again on the morning of June 12th, 2023, and answered no comment to all questions in an interview. 

The third victim said in a statement, “I am not the same person anymore; March changed me forever.” 

Judge Heather Lloyd, sentencing, said: “I have read references from your family, your employers, from your mosque, and a letter from the prison. 

“I am sure those who have known you are astonished the person they knew as a loving son, brother, and employer has behaved as you have. 

“You are clearly a different person when you have been cruising in your car outside of nightclubs in the early hours of the morning. 

“You have not made a mistake; you have offended the most serious way on three separate occasions and two of those occasions whilst on police bail or at least under investigation. 

“It’s said you are remorseful, repeated today, and a changed man. 

“That may have held had you not denied your offending and made efforts to vacate your guilty pleas, thus causing more stress to your victims.” 

She continued: “Even now, as you sit crying in the dock, you do not acknowledge your guilt. 

“You may be ashamed of being caught and the consequences for you, but from the contents of the pre-sentence report, you are clearly not ashamed of what you have done. 

“This was targeted offending of lone, young, drunk females.” 

Asmal was sentenced to 22 years, 17 years in prison and five on extended licence. 

Judge Lloyd said Asmal is a dangerous offender, and it will be for the parole board to decide when he is released. 

Asmal will be subject to notification requirements indefinitely and was given a sexual harm prevention order forbidding him from contacting the victims. 

Alex Rawsthorn, DS for Lancashire Police, said: “I welcome the sentence handed down to Asmal today, which reflects the seriousness of his offence and the genuine and significant danger he poses to women. 

“Asmal deliberately targeted his victims because of their vulnerable state and subjected them to serious sexual harm. 

“Although today’s headlines will quite rightly focus on Asmal’s abhorrent offending, my thoughts are very much with the victims who his appalling offending has profoundly impacted.

“As reflected in their harrowing victim impact statements, all three continue to live with the aftereffects of what Asmal did to them.

“If you or somebody you know has been the victim of a sexual offence, I would encourage you to contact the police knowing you will be listened to and believed and that we will do everything we can to put the perpetrator before the courts.”

Janet Potter, deputy chief Crown prosecutor for the Northwest Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit, said: “Nazim Asmal is an extremely dangerous man who targeted lone women at night. 

“He led them to believe he was a good citizen, offering to help them get home safely when he is, in fact, a predator who was intent on using serious sexual violence towards them. 

“Asmal’s despicable actions have had a devastating effect on all the women, who have changed how they live their lives since he attacked them.

“I would like to thank them for supporting the prosecution case and enabling us to bring him to justice.

“Every woman has the right to feel and be safe on our streets no matter what time of day or night without fear of being sexually assaulted.

“The CPS is committed to bringing offenders who commit crimes against women to justice.”