The Nottingham Rapist taxi driver, Zaheer Hussain who attempted to bribe one of the two adolescents he sexually raped has been sentenced to imprisonment.
Zaheer Hussain, 45 years old, was convicted in February of this year for attacking two young women who were passengers in his taxi.
Unbeknownst to the jurors, he had previously entered a guilty plea for obstructing justice by attempting to undermine the evidence against him.
Upon discovering the phone number of a crucial witness, Zaheer Hussain endeavoured to bribe her and the victim with £6,000 each to alter their testimonies.
This illicit method was not only dismissed but also documented and subsequently reported to the police.
Investigators subsequently obtained CCTV evidence depicting a someone resembling Zaheer Hussain, who was observed waiting for many days at the precise spot he had proposed for a meeting.
Zaheer Hussain initially attracted police scrutiny following the assault of a young woman on 23 April 2022.
Upon retrieving her from Nottingham City Centre, he proffered her a cigarette before elevating his hand beneath her skirt and caressing the interior of her thigh.
Following identification from CCTV footage, Zaheer Hussain was interviewed under caution and then released.
Apparently unfazed by police scrutiny, Zaheer Hussain persisted in operating his taxi and committed another offence around eight months later.
On one occasion, he commenced by posing a series of egregiously inappropriate sexual enquiries to his victim, thereafter pulling over and inflicting further severe assaults upon her.
Following a not guilty plea to all allegations, Zaheer Hussain was convicted in February at Nottingham Crown Court after a retrial on three counts of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration.
He was acquitted of an additional charge of sexual assault involving a third young woman.
During his trial, Zaheer Hussain claimed that his victims – who were both sat in the front seat as he assaulted them but had no prior knowledge of each other – were making up the allegations against him.
When confronted with damning DNA evidence proving sexual contact with the second victim, he had initially claimed the victim had actually made a sexual advance towards him.
Appearing at the same venue today (Friday) Zaheer Hussain, formerly of Wilford Crescent East, was given an extended 16 year sentence – 11 years to be served in custody and five on extended license.
He was also handed a restraining order banning further contact with his victims.
He was, his counsel said, remorseful for what had happened, and also regretted his decision to put his victims through a crown court trial.
Detective Constable Rachael Flitton, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“This was predatory and calculating behaviour from a man who appeared to believe he could do what he liked to these young women without any consequences.
“Even after his earlier interaction with the police, he upped the level of his offending and subjected another young woman to an even more serious sexual assaults.
“His victims were extremely vulnerable when they had the misfortune to find themselves alone in Zaheer Hussain’s taxi.
“After trusting him to get them home safely, he abused that trust in a way I know will horrify his hard-working fellow drivers.
“His earlier suggestion that two strangers with no prior knowledge of each other would make very similar but false allegations was always remote.
“But Zaheer Hussain’s claim that his second victim actually made advances towards him was little short of fanciful.
“As he begins this very significant jail sentence, I would like to place on record my thanks to those victims for the determination and bravery they have shown in order to bring this man to justice and safeguard other potential victims.”
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