LONDON 

A minicab driver has been jailed after picking up a woman in Shoreditch and taking to his friend’s house, where she was raped.

Salah Mohammed, 31, of Varley Road, Canning Town was touting and having his car cleaned at the carwash on Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch on the night of Friday, March 7 last year.

He was approached by the victim’s friend, who asked him to take her home, as the victim, a woman in her twenties, had been drinking and felt unwell.

Mohammed was given £10 for the fare and the friend took a photograph of the vehicle’s registration plate, and also called the victim’s family to tell them she was on her way home.

Her family alerted police in the early hours of Saturday, March 8, after she did not arrive home.

It transpired that instead of taking her home, Mohammed had taken the victim to the home of his friend, Mohammed Sallah, eight miles away in Walthamstow, where Sallah raped her.

After the rape the victim was taken by Salah Mohammed to Wood Green where she was let out of the car and was able to contact her family and speak to police to report the offence.

Both men were sentenced yesterday at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Salah Mohammed, had previously been found guilty of kidnap and encouraging, or assisting the commission of a serious offence, namely rape and jailed for nine years.

His friend, Mohammed Sallah, 38, of Hylands Road, Walthamstow, had pleaded guilty to rape at an earlier hearing and was jailed for seven years two months.

Detective Constable Dele Bolude from the Met’s Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: “This was a despicable crime. I would like to praise the victim’s courage in coming forward and reporting it to police.

“I hope that this sentence sends a clear message regarding the seriousness of this type of offending and gives other victims of sexual offences the courage to come forward.”

Detective Inspector Simon Giles from the Met’s Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, added: “The Met Police is committed to prosecuting sex offenders and working with partners to support victims of crime.

“The events of March 8 last year have had a devastating effect on the victim but I hope that these convictions will give her some comfort and closure on her road to recovery.”

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