Taxi driver jailed for sex assault on girl in Bournemouth

Mahdi Ferhane “took advantage” of the “vulnerable” girl, who he had picked up alone in Bournemouth town centre.

The 38-year-old father-of-two abused the trust the teenager had placed in him to take her home after she had been out at a nightclub, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

Judge William Mousley KC told Ferhane: “You took advantage of her as a vulnerable young girl in order to commit a sexual offence upon her.”

The judge said the defendant committed a “prolonged and sustained” sexual assault.

Ferhane first came into contact with the complainant when he pulled up alongside her when she was sat on a bench in Old Christchurch Road in the early hours of May 29 last year.

Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth (Image: NQ)

After a brief verbal exchange she got into the front seat of his car and asked to be taken to her home.

However, Ferhane drove to a clifftop car park and insisted that she drive the car.

Judge Mousley KC said he was sure that by this point the girl’s phone had run out of battery and she had no idea where she was.

The defendant then took the complainant to an address in St Peter’s Road, which he was the landlord of.

Inside the flat he removed her dress, messaged her shoulder, pushed her face down onto a mattress and touched her with his penis.

The girl repeatedly asked to be taken home, the judge said. She was crying and frozen in panic when the assault occurred.

After the incident, Ferhane drove the teen home and charged her £12 for the trip as a taxi passenger.

In his police interviews, the defendant gave different accounts of what occurred, initially claiming he did not have any contact with the complainant.

During his trial, the court heard Ferhane was licensed with New Forest District Council to carry out pre-booked trips.

Mahdi Ferhane (Image: Dorset Police)

In a victim personal statement, read at the hearing by prosecutor William Hughes KC, the teenager said: “Since the man attacked me I have been really on edge.”

She went on to say: “I no longer feel safe to go to Bournemouth.”

The girl said her life had changed for the worst as a result of the sexual attack.

“I want the man who did this to me to know exactly how much harm he has done to me,” she added.

Stephen Leslie KC, representing Farhane, said various positive references had been provided by staff at the prison where his client had been remanded.

Judge Mousley KC jailed Ferhane, of Richmond Park Road, Bournemouth for 28 months at the hearing on Friday, June 2.

The defendant was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

As reported, Ferhane was found not guilty of attempted rape but convicted of sexual assault after a trial in April and May.