SHAME SHAME
PREDATORY DUNDEE PH DRIVER JAILED FOR RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT OF YOUNG PASSENGERS
A private hire driver who raped a teenage passenger and sexually assaulted another in his vehicle has been jailed for eight years. Saifal Zaveri preyed on a terrified 17-year-old student after picking her up in Dundee on August 14 2021. The married 42-year-old had earlier molested and groped another young woman in his PHV on March 1, 2020. On 17 August, Zaveri was sen- tenced at the High Court in Glasgow, having been convicted of rape and sexual assault after a trial in Edinburgh in June. It emerged Zaveri already had a previous conviction for stalking a teenage girl when he was aged 36. His lawyer told the sentencing
hearing that the rapist had urged him to ask Lord Fairley to consider an alternative to jail. But, the judge dismissed the request for what he branded “opportunistic and predatory” crimes aggravated by a serious breach of trust. Zaveri will be monitored for a further three years on his release and be on the sex offenders list indefinitely. The rape victim earlier told jurors how Zaveri had been driving her to address in Dundee when he instead pulled into a lay-by. She recalled: “I was scared. I just
remember him going on about sexual things. First of all he was saying I was good looking and then he went to kiss me. “I had a top on with a zip down the front of it and he unzipped it.” She told the prosecutor her attacker was aggressive before going on to rape her and then saying: “That was good.” Zaveri had earlier pounced on a 16- year-old girl on a journey to Monifieth as she sat in the front seat. Zaveri, also of Dundee, maintained his innocence, claiming that there had been consensual sexual activity with the rape victim and that nothing happened with the other girl and that all was “fine” when she got out of his vehicle.
BELFAST CABBIE WHO CAUSED FEMALE PASSENGER TO SEXUALLY TOUCH HIM GIVEN PROBATION
A West Belfast cabbie who caused a female passenger to sexually touch him in his car has been handed a three-year probation order. James Haughey, 54, from Dunmurry, had previously pleaded guilty to a single charge of causing a person to engage in a sexual act without her consent. Belfast Crown Court heard that in the early hours of 22 April 2019, the defendant was working as a taxi driver and was flagged down by the victim and her then boyfriend. When they arrived at the destin- ation, the male went into a flat saying: “I will get more money.” The victim got into the front seat of the taxi and told the driver about problems she was having
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with her boyfriend. She was under the influence of cocaine and prescribed medication at the time. A plea document stated: “The boyfriend did not come back and the accused drove to a side street believing the complainant wished him to do so. “It is accepted by the defendant that she did not wish him to do so and it is accepted by
the
prosecution that his belief was reasonable.’’ The defendant put his hand under her dress and rubbed her leg towards her groin area. “He believed that she consented and the prosecution accept that his belief may have been reasonable in the circumstances.’’
The defendant then got her to touch him sexually but he now “accepts by his plea of guilty that she did not consent to this and it was not reasonable for him to believe that she did’’. He then drove his taxi back to her boyfriend’s flat and gave her his business card. The court heard the driver has now separated from his partner over the incident. Haughey, who had been a taxi driver for 20 years, had also lost his job. Defence
counsel said: “The
defendant is willing to engage in any treatment or counselling that the GP recommends. Haughey was placed on the sex offenders register for five years
SEPTEMBER 2023 PHTM
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