IN THE NEWS OXFORD CABBIE FOUND NOT GUILTY OF RAPING AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTING PASSENGER
A cabbie cried in the dock after a jury found him not guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a passen- ger as he drove her to Banbury. Lawyers said that Hakmatullah Hotak, 28, pulled his cab to the side of the road to commit the “violent assault” in the early hours of November 1, 2019. Hotak, from Oxford, denied the charges, claim- ing the woman made sexual advances towards him instead. But on 8 February, Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson told a trial at Oxford Crown Court that his defence was “riddled with lies”. “He saw a vulnerable young woman scantily dressed and drunk and he decided he was going to take advantage of her,” he said. The woman had been clubbing in
Oxford with friends dressed in Halloween outfits. After drinking ten gin and lemonades, she was escorted out of a nightclub at 1am. She argued with her boyfriend before roaming the streets of the city alone for two hours. Arriving at Oxford railway station at 3am, she found no trains running and instead got in Hotak’s taxi. The woman told Hotak she had no means to pay him when the car reached Kidlington. A short time later, Hotak allegedly pulled over in a wooded area and raped and sexually assaulted her. Defending, Zoe Johnson KC said the woman made sexual advances towards Hotak while he was driving the cab. There was no evidence to suggest Hotak was a
“sexual predator out that night looking for a victim”, she said. She added the woman was “angry with her boyfriend and called him a “d**k” while talking to Hotak in the car while revealing “personal” information. She sat next to Hotak in the front seat, the court heard. Giving his closing remarks, Mr Ward-Jackson said the jury must decide “who is telling the truth”. Aftr a week-long trial, Mr Hotak was found not guilty of rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault. As the jury delivered their verdicts, Mr Hotak could be seen crying in the dock and sighing with relief. He thanked jury members as he was released from the dock, holding his hands together and nodding his head towards them.
PHTM MARCH 2024
47
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
