LONDON   

A Uber driver sexually assaulted a female customer in the back of his taxi.

Samson Haile, 32, touched the woman's legs and said he wanted to have sex with her while driving her home from a pub in west London.

She had been out for dinner with her boyfriend, before going to a friend's leaving drinks. 

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, need to be up early the next day so ordered a taxi on the Uber app to be picked up at 10.40pm.

During the journey she said Haile said to her 'you are very pretty' and asked her if she had a boyfriend, before saying 'I want to have sex with you'.

The victim said he kept repeating himself before they stopped at some traffic lights.

He then turned round in his seat and touched her leg with his hand, before moving it up to her thigh.

He drove on, and minutes later touched her again on the knee at which point she screamed to be let out of the car.

In a statement read out at Isleworth Crown Court today the victim, in her 20s, said: 'Since it first happened I was so upset and shocked, I couldn't sleep.

'It got so bad I had to take a week off work as I suffered from repeated flashbacks relating to the incident.

'I feel helpless, isolated and vulnerable, and the incident has made me lonely.. I now don't like being in a vehicle with a man I don't know.

'It has changed my life and it was the most horrifying experience I have ever had.

'I had to move since the cab journey because I was so worried the man knew where I lived. I was constantly checking outside my house in case he was there.

'It was the worst experience of my life and I relive it every day. Even though I got away from the man that did this, I am haunted by the "what if?" scenarios.'

During the trial the prosecution called another female witness, an off duty police officer, who was also driven home by Haile, just two hours after the sexual assault.

She told the court he made similar comments and asked her if she was married, before telling her 'I want to sleep in your bed'.

The officer made a note of the journey in the police log when she went back on duty.

Eritrean refugee Haile, who described himself as a devout Christian who did not believe in sex before marriage, denied the offence at his trial.

He claimed he did not remember the journey with the woman and that he wouldn't act in that way.

The court also heard he has a degree in financial mathematics and came to the UK in 2006.

Defence barrister Zarif Khan argued a suspended sentence would be appropriate as a term to allow Haile's rehabilitation.

However, this was dismissed by Judge Recorder Sarah Buckingham who said 'the first priority of the courts is to protect the public'.

In sentencing the judge said: 'You are a 32-year-old man and you have been convicted at trial of one offence of sexual assault that took place on February 27 this year.

'On that date you had been employed as a self-employed Uber taxi driver for three weeks. But on that evening your conduct fell far below that expected of a taxi driver.

'It is important that the people that use the services of Uber, and other taxi services, can be sure the taxi driver coming to collect them can be trusted.

'You and your actions have let all taxi drivers down and you undermined that trust.'

Haile was sentenced today for sexual assault at Isleworth Crown Court, where he was jailed for eight months

She said the ordeal must have been 'terrifying' for the victim and after she ran away from the cab Haile 'must have known what he had done'.

She said: 'This is not the most serious sexual assault these courts have to deal with, but in these circumstance, with the victim being alone and vulnerable, it is extremely serious.'

She concluded he carried out the offence for 'sexual gratification' but said his cultural background may have been a factor.

However, she said his behaviour was 'wholly unacceptable' and there was a 'risk of reoffending'.

Haile, of Brentford, was jailed for eight months and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years.

The judge also issued a sexual harm order which will mean once released he can never be any sort of taxi driver again. 

Uber were approached for a comment but a spokeswoman for the company said: 'it wouldn't be appropriate for us to comment.'

'This was an ex-Uber partner who was not operating on the platform when this incident occurred.'

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, need to be up early the next day so ordered a taxi on the Uber app to be picked up at 10.40pm. Following the conviction London's black cabbies called for tighter regulations.

Richard Massett, chairman of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) said: 'This not the first time we have heard about incidents of this nature and we welcome the fact it has been dealt with by the courts.

'The association have seen a number of allegations on social media from Uber passengers of inappropriate behaviour and sexual assault from Uber drivers.

'We believe regulations need to be tightened up and looked at again by the authorities, and there needs to be proper background checks of drivers.'

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