A MINI cab driver has been jailed for two-and-a-half-years after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenager.
Mohammed Shafiq (36), of Lawn Avenue, Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, was also handed a 10-year ban from working as a taxi driver after kissing a 17-year-old girl while on duty in his taxi cab.

Sentencing Shafiq at Peterborough Crown Court, Judge Sean Enright said: "There has been a steady trickle of incidents in the Peterborough area in the past few months where women who are on their own or who are too drunk to give a coherent account are being targeted, and I sentence with the aim of reducing crime in the city.

"I am satisfied this sentence is necessary to protect the public from serious sexual harm."

Judge Enright added: "Taxi drivers provide a vital service for the community of Peterborough and the surrounding areas, they come into contact with vulnerable people, especially women and people who are drunk, of a young age or incompetent in some way.

"In my view, this is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified."

Shafiq was found guilty by a jury following the assault on December 2 last year.

The court heard how Shafiq picked up the 17-year-old girl whom he recognised, having taken her home the night before.

But this time, the Peterborough Cars driver asked the girl to sit in the front seat.

He subsequently kissed her on the cheek and the lips before putting his tongue in her mouth.

The girl, who was described by the Judge as "very young looking", then got out of the cab in Driffield Way, Woodston and went into the house of a friend, and told the friend's parents about her ordeal.

The court heard how her friend's parents described the girl as sober and said she was "looking distressed" and retching in the garden.

They also said she was "pale and shaken".

The friend's parents went out to confront Shafiq, but the court was told that he tried to talk his way out of it.

Mitigating, Karen Robinson said: "It was a single action, it wasn't persistent behaviour. He came in minimal contact with her for a very short duration.

"Mr Shafiq remained at the scene and was co-operative with police.

"He was remorseful and distraught by what had happened.

"He is a man of good character, and has lived in the country for the past eight years where he has worked for the majority of that time."

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