IN THE NEWS
WOMAN RAPED BY THREE MEN AFTER GETTING IN A FAKE TAXI IN HULL AFTER NIGHT OUT
A woman endured a harrowing ordeal when she was raped in a car by three men in Hull who had picked her up in Ferensway after a night out. The victim believed she was getting into a licensed taxi but instead found herself at the mercy of the three men from Hull. During the journey, they continued to deceive the victim it was a licensed taxi and she was raped. Bakhtullah Safi, 18, and Habibullah Ahmadzai, 18, were both charged with rape following the incident on Sunday, July 30, last year. Kehan Safi, 26, was also charged with rape and pleaded guilty to the offence at an earlier hearing. Following the attack, a large-scale investigation was launched with officers from Humberside Police's Protecting Vulnerable Persons Team and Major Crime Team. They reviewed CCTV footage in and around the Hull City Centre to identify the vehicle and made enquiries to trace and identify the suspects using the car. From the CCTV recovered, the footage captured the woman entering the vehicle and Bakhtullah driving away towards Hull Royal Infirmary. The vehicle was identified as being registered to Bakhtullah. Further enquiries were conducted to trace the journey of the vehicle and it was discovered that Bakhtuallah travelled from Ferensway, before dropping the woman at an address in Hull where she was allowed to get out of the vehicle. Having raped the woman, alongside Habibullah and Kehan,
38
Bakhtullah then requested a £20 fare for the journey which the woman refused and fled to safety. Bakhtullah Safi was arrested on Saturday, August 5, and Kehan Safi and Habibullah Ahmadzai were arrested on Sunday, August 6. All three men were interviewed by detectives and were subsequently charged with rape. Following an eight-day trial at Hull Crown Court, on Wednesday, February 14, a jury returned a guilty verdict for Bakhtullah Safi and Habibullah Ahmadzai. All three men have
been
remanded into custody and are due to be sentenced on Tuesday, April 2. Detective Constable Ashley Webster, who led the case, said: “This was a truly disturbing case and I’m pleased these men are now behind bars and are being punished for this horrific attack. “I cannot begin to put into words the bravery the woman has shown throughout the investigation and court proceedings, and I want to offer my sincerest thanks as she has helped take these abhorrent men off our streets. “Kehan Safi, Bakhtullah Safi and Habibullah Ahmadzai are what I can only describe as ‘sexual
predators’ who subjected a lone woman who had just been on a night out with friends, to a horrific and utterly traumatising ordeal for their own perverse needs. “They have shown no remorse for their actions, putting the woman through the further torment of a trial by refusing to admit their crimes. “We are committed to making our streets safer by preventing these types of crimes, investigating reported offences and pursuing perpetrators and bringing them to justice.”
Dave Lawrie, Director NPHTA, said: “Sadly this is a case where CCTV in cars would not help as it was a private car, not a taxi or private hire vehicle. “This is precisely why we have never agreed with single colour policies for hackney carriage vehicles; by being only one colour, it removes the focus away from plates, roof signs and other identifiable markers, creating a situation where the general public consider that any vehicle which is that colour "must be a taxi" and therefore opens up the risk to dangers like this!”
MARCH 2024 PHTM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78
