By Tsvetelina Stancheva and Bianca Jashnani
A private car driver has admitted that he raped a woman in Croydon and sexually assaulted two other female customers in the Islington area. The driver, Homayon Ahmadi, 33, entered a guilty plea at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday, 26 January.
Women have the right to feel safe after hailing a cab – but statistics show that that isn’t always the case. According to the Office for National Statistics, half of all women “felt unsafe walking alone after dark in a quiet street near their home”. Sadly, those women also feel unsafe riding an Uber, Lyft or other private car hire, to the extent that Uber temporarily lost its licence in 2017 for not reporting sexual assaults on its watch, therefore putting women potentially at risk.
Women often face a difficult choice: take late-night public transport (potentially dangerous), walk home alone (potentially dangerous) or hire a private car (potentially dangerous).
The other alternative? Stay home.
“Normally I feel safe ordering private hired cars, because of the credentials on the app. I automatically assume it’s safe,” said Nicole Akpata, 26, who works at the Totally Wicked vape shop on Holloway Road.
“I never had a bad experience riding a private car hire, but after hearing that two women were sexually assaulted in this area, I will definitely be more cautious.
“However, I won’t stop using hired cars because this could happen anywhere, anytime.”
Akpata’s colleague, Hevin Tasman, 27, said that she had a lot of uncomfortable rides with private care hires as the drivers are constantly trying to talk to her, which made her feel unsafe.
“To avoid them, I put my headphones on and just play some music,” she said.
Baby oil and condoms
Last year, a 41-year-old woman reported that Ahmadi picked her up after she ordered a private car, then pulled over and raped her. He was found to have baby oil and condoms in the glove box of his car, the court reported.
Ahmadi’s two other victims told police that after picking them up for a car fare, the “Croydon taxi rapist”, as he has been dubbed, stopped off to buy whiskey at an off-licence. He then asked them to come back to his home. The women tried to escape out of the parked car in Hornsey Street, but Ahmadi managed to grab both and assault them sexually before fleeing the scene.
“I had two friends who had a bad incident with a hired car, it was really late around 2 – 3am, they were coming home from a night out and one of them fell asleep,” said Marian Ahmed, 27, student at London Metropolitan University.
“The driver changed the journey and stopped at a car park. He forced the girl who was awake out of the car and drove away with her friend who was still sleeping.
“But thankfully, my friend woke up and realised she was alone, so she jumped out of the car before anything bad happened.”
Victim-blaming
Faiza Ahmed, 24, politics student at London Metropolitan University said, “It’s disgusting how society works because they will always question and try to blame the woman and what she was wearing.
“Instead of exposing the rapist, they will expose the women who has been through the traumatic experience.
“I always felt safe in hired cars but after hearing about this, I will definitely try and not take long journeys or hire private cars late at night alone.”
Homayon Ahmadi, 33, of Uxbridge is due to be sentenced on March 3rd.
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