A serial sex offender who lured women into his car by pretending to be an Aberdeen taxi driver before sexually assaulting them has been placed on the sex offenders register for five years.
Junaid Muhammed Naheed tricked two women in the city centre by offering them a lift and presenting himself as a licenced taxi driver.
He then lunged forward and groped them without their consent.
Naheed, 27, assaulted one victim twice in the same journey – and the woman was forced to flee his vehicle leaving her house keys behind.
Naheed worked as a delivery driver at the time and was already on the sex offenders’ register for groping a 16-year-old girl in Manchester in 2021.
He originally pleaded guilty to the charge at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in January of this year.
Woman asked accused about taxi fare
Fiscal depute Jane Spark told the court that a 21-year-old woman and her friend had been at a flat on Powis Place on the evening of August 21 2021.
In the early hours of the following morning – around 12.15am – the pair left the flat and were stood at a bus stop nearby.
Naheed’s car pulled up and he lowered the window before offering the women a lift.
One of the women thought Naheed’s car was a taxi and asked how much, to which he replied £12.
The woman declined and he then stated that it would only cost £4, which she accepted.
The two women got in, with one woman sitting in the front passenger seat and the other sitting in the back.
Naheed drove the women to Denburn Road, near Belmont Street, where the woman tried to pay the fare.
Naheed replied “not like that” before leaning in and kissing her on the mouth.
He then grabbed the woman by the waist and repeatedly asked to touch her breasts, which the woman considered “disgusting” and felt uncomfortable, telling him: “No, what the f*** do you think you’re doing?”
Naheed then lunged towards the woman as she leaned back and grabbed her breasts and private parts over her clothing.
The woman managed to escape and tell a nearby police officer what had happened.
Incident involving second woman
Ms Spark told the court about a second incident a few weeks later.
It happened at about 11.30pm on September 13 2021.
In that incident, the victim was a 19-year-old woman who was walking home after socialising with a friend.
The victim saw Naheed standing next to a parked car.
“The accused invited the complainer to enter his car and said he could take her home,” Ms Spark said.
The fiscal added that, once the woman was inside the car, Naheed “told her he was a taxi driver”.
He drove only a short distance to John Street where he stopped and tried to kiss the woman on the mouth, also placing his hand down the front and back of her jeans.
Naheed then tried to place his hands inside the woman’s underwear, but she managed to remove it before he could do so.
The woman asked to be dropped off there – but Naheed insisted on driving her home.
Tried to force hand inside underwear
He drove for around another mile to Summerfield Terrace and stopped the car in the middle of the road.
At that point, Naheed again tried to kiss and grope the victim through her clothing.
Naheed grabbed at her breasts and again tried to force his hand inside her underwear.
The victim made it clear she was not interested and told Naheed she had a boyfriend.
“During the journey the complainer had lost her keys inside the accused’s car,” Ms Spark said.
Ms Spark added: “She got out of the car on Summerfield Terrace and looked for them inside the vehicle.
“The accused also got out of the car and walked round to the passenger side.”
Pervert tried to blame victim
According to evidence given in court, Naheed twice attempted to follow the victim but she managed to get away.
She was able to seek help from staff at a pub.
Workers at that pub noticed the woman was in distress and she told them a taxi driver had sexually assaulted her.
Police launched an investigation and arrested Naheed – who audaciously claimed it was the woman had made sexual advances towards him.
Officers were able to link him to the earlier incident.
In the dock, Naheed pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault.
‘A serious and concerning course of sexual offending’
Defence solicitor John Hardie told the court that it is “understood” by his client that he is facing serious offences.
He went on to say that a background report into Naheed “paints a picture of someone who lives a very isolated, friendless life”.
Mr Hardie added that Naheed has very little opportunity for “social expression” or friendships that promote personal development”.
“He is now better able to understand and take responsibility for what he did and the changes he must make that he hasn’t made in the past,” the solicitor added.
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Naheed that upon the women entering his car he did nothing to correct their misunderstanding that he was a taxi driver.
“On each occasion, you drove them to a separate location and sexually assaulted them before they managed to get out of the car.
“This offence amounts to a serious and concerning course of sexual offending against women who were vulnerable by being in your car with you late at night.”
Sheriff Miller concluded that a prison sentence “was not the only appropriate way to deal with these offences”.
As an alternative to a custodial sentence, Sheriff Miller made Naheed, of Fraser Place, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order with supervision for three years and ordered him to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work.
The sheriff also placed Naheed on the sex offenders register for five years and ordered him to take part in a sex offenders’ programme.
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