A sex predator who raped a vulnerable teenager in Fife after she got into his car believing it was a taxi has been jailed for six years.
Mustafizur Rahman carried out a sex attack on the girl after she had been out drinking on a night out as pandemic lockdown restrictions eased, Edinburgh High Court heard.
A judge told 44-year-old Rahman: “You took advantage of a lone, vulnerable woman who was trying to get home.”
Lord Young added: “This was a predatory and opportunistic sexual assault.”
The judge said he had regard to a statement provided by the victim which told of the psychological impact of the offending on her and the effect it has had on all aspects of her life.
Lord Young said: “I note that you continue to deny your guilt. There is no indication of remorse, empathy or insight into your offending.”
Distraught victim sought help
Rahman had denied raping the woman during an earlier trial, but was found guilty of the offence. The victim was a complete stranger to him, the trial heard.
He claimed that she went into the back seat and took off her trousers and pants and invited him to perform oral sex on her and have intercourse.
But the court heard that the distraught teenager went to a house in Kelty seeking help after the assault on her in the town’s Keltyhill Avenue on July 6 2020.
She told police that she was sure she had got into a taxi and remembered being in the back seat. She said she recalled her attacker taking her trousers down and she told him to “stop”.
Police launched an investigation, pulling together CCTV footage from the town.
They set about tracing owners of dark-coloured Vauxhall Vectra cars, after such a vehicle was caught on camera.
Tracked down by tow-bar evidence
A Vectra with a tow bar, which was a significant feature seen in footage, was traced to a street in Dunfermline.
Rahman was found to be the owner. He gave officers a statement and provided a DNA sample.
The court heard that the teenager was out drinking on the first day pubs had reopened after lockdown following her turning 18 during the shutdown.
She was seen leaving a bar with others before she was later caught on camera on her own in Kelty’s Main Street.
A detective who viewed the footage said she appeared to be zigzagging across the pavement before entering a car.
Rahman, formerly of Ballingry Crescent, Ballingry, in Fife, was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely following his sentencing.
