A Dundee taxi driver who stuck his hand up a passenger’s kilt as he drove him home from a night out has been spared jail.
Mohammed Anwar, 33, sexually assaulted two male passengers one of whom had called the taxi because he needed urgent medical treatment in his cab on two separate occasions.
Married Anwar targeted his first victim as he drove his inebriated passenger home from a night out in Dundee city centre.
He first asked the kilted man if he was a true Scotsman before reaching up his kilt and grabbing his genitals.
Anwar, who has five children, was brushed off at first but then twice more put his hand up the man’s Highland dress and “had a good feel” as the man dozed.
He struck again weeks later after he was called to take another man to Ninewells Hospital.
The second victim was vomiting blood, but during the journey Anwar asked him why he had broken up with his girlfriend.
He then repeatedly grabbed at the man’s crotch as he drove towards the hospital.
Anwar had denied the charges and stood trial at the sheriff court, insisting the allegations had been fabricated by the two men, who did not know each other and had never met the taxi driver before.
Anwar’s first victim, aged 37, had told how he “broke down in tears” at the Tesco store where he was dropped off by Anwar moments after the attack.
Anwar’s second victim, also 37, said: “He kept trying to touch my genital area.
“I had my head between my legs because I was in quite a bad way but he was still reaching and grabbing towards my groin area.”
Anwar, of Forfar Road, had denied two charges under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act on summary complaint.
The offences were committed on May 25 and July 20 last year.
Sheriff Richard McFarlane, who placed the accused on the sex offenders register, told Anwar: “You pled not guilty at the outset of the trial and maintained the plea throughout. From my judgment, the evidence against you was overwhelming.”
Anwar was placed on a community payback order that included 18 months’ supervision and 150 hours of unpaid work.
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “This person does not currently hold a taxi licence.”