A TAXI DRIVER who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young woman he was driving home from a night out has been jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Naveed Rana (42) told the victim to sit in the front seat before he drove off in the wrong direction and sexually assaulted her, at times while driving erratically, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today.

Rana, of Ballynakelly Gate, Newcastle, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting the 18-year-old woman in his taxi in Dublin in the early hours of 11 October last year.

At the time of the offence, he was on bail for a serious drug offence.

The sexual assault culminated in Rana forcing the woman to ejaculate him in the car before he “panicked” when he saw her texting her location to a friend and dropped her off.

During the incident, the court heard the victim feared for her life and thought she was going to be murdered.

Sentencing Rana today, Judge Elma Sheahan said Rana had breached his position of trust as a taxi driver and caused significant harm to the victim, whom she described as vulnerable. She noted that while pretending to drive her home, he took wrong turns and drove her away from her destination.

“She believed she was going to be killed,” Judge Sheahan said. “She was unable to react other than follow instructions.”

It was serious offending “by any measure”, the judge said, noting the victim has suffered severe trauma as a result of the attack.

The judge noted Rana was on bail for a serious drug offence at the time of the offending, for which he later received community service.

She considered several mitigating factors, including his early guilty plea, his expressions of remorse, and testimonials that were handed into court on his behalf. She noted that he is married and has a young family.

The judge handed down a five-and-a-half-year sentence. She declined to suspend any portion of this, given that Rana was on bail for a serious offence when he carried out the attack.

The court heard the woman suffered severe mental health difficulties and was left in “total fear” after the incident. She did not wish to come to court. In a victim impact statement, which was read out on her behalf, she said she lives in constant fear of something like this happening again.

She said she used to get taxis often but has been too afraid to get into one since the attack. “I’m just a young girl; I shouldn’t be in total fear,” she said. “This is the most disgusting thing to have happened to me.”

A local garda detective told Garret McCormack BL, prosecuting, that the victim was socialising in Dublin city centre on the night in question when she and two of her friends – a man and another woman – tried to order a taxi in the early hours of the morning.

When they weren’t successful, they noticed Rana, who beckoned them over to his taxi. He dropped the man off first before dropping home the victim’s friend, whom the court heard was very intoxicated.

The victim spent some time helping her friend to bed before she returned to Rana, who was still waiting outside in his taxi. He told her to get into the front seat before almost immediately taking a wrong turn away from the woman’s destination, the court heard.

The man tried to kiss the victim and then started sexually assaulting her while still driving the car. His driving became erratic, and he parked the car before making her masturbate him. The young woman was frozen with fear throughout.

He then suggested finding somewhere “more dark” to continue, but the woman refused and managed to text her location to a friend.

She told Rana she was just Snapchatting her sister, but he panicked and dropped her off shortly afterwards. The woman took a photo of his taxi as he drove away, which the court heard was crucial to the investigation.

She went to gardaí immediately, and Rana was arrested a few weeks later. He had moved house during this period. He denied any wrongdoing when interviewed.

Paul Greene SC, defending, said Rana was considered a “decent person” in the local community and that this incident was out of character for him. He came to Ireland from Pakistan a number of years ago.

A letter of apology was handed into court.