Taxi driver found guilty of sexually assaulting girl

Mahdi Ferhane was on trial at Bournemouth Crown Court in relation to the incident involving a 17-year-old girl in the early hours of May 29 last year.

Prosecutors told the court the defendant took “advantage” of the teenager.

Returning verdicts on Wednesday, May 3, the jury acquitted Ferhane of attempted rape and found him unanimously guilty of the alternative charge of sexual assault.

The jury heard how the 38-year-old pulled up alongside the girl in Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, and after a brief verbal exchange she got into the front seat of his car.

He then drove to a clifftop car park where the girl got behind the wheel. It was disputed whether the defendant told her to do this or if she had ask to drive the Volkswagen Touran.

After Ferhane returned to the driver’s seat he took the girl to a town centre flat he owned in St Peter’s Road, with him knowing it would be unoccupied at the time.

The defendant and the complainant entered the property and a short time later he gave her a massage while she was lying face down on a mattress.

The complainant said she went into the property to charge her phone after it had run out of battery.

Giving evidence during the trial, the girl said Ferhane “forced” her dress off while the defendant said she had started to take the dress off and he helped her remove it after asking if she needed assistance.

Ferhane then removed his clothing and started to give a body-to-body massage without asking the complainant if she was okay with this or wanted to do this.

The defendant, of Richmond Park Avenue, Charminster, said he got an erection and ejaculated. He told police and the jury that he did not try to have sex with the girl.

Following this they both got dressed and the defendant took the complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, back to her home.

He charged her £12 as a taxi customer for this journey before going on to carry out a fare elsewhere.

The complainant told the jury it got to a point during the incident where she “completely froze” and did not say anything.

“I was just stuck with my head in the mattress,” she said.

The defendant told the court he believed the sexual activity that occurred was consensual.

Old Christchurch Road (Image: NQ)

The jury heard that Ferhane lied in both of his interviews with police.

He said on the first occasion this was because he was “scared, shocked and embarrassed” while during the second bout of questions his falsehoods were because “I am a married man and I did something really bad”.

When asked what he did that was “really bad”, he said: “I cheated on my wife.”

Prosecutor William Hughes KC said Ferhane was able to “take advantage” of the girl while she was in drink and vulnerable in his capacity as a taxi driver.

Ferhane, who was licensed as a private hire driver only by New Forest District Council, was remanded in custody ahead of a sentencing hearing on Friday, June 2.