A man has been sentenced to four years imprisonment after he sexually assaulted a woman while pretending to be a taxi driver.
Ibrahim Gediklioglu, aged 26, of Grange Park, picked up two 19-year-old women near to a taxi rank by Jury’s Inn in Swindon town centre on September 29 and took them to McDonalds so they could get some food.
During the journey, he twice put his hand on one of the women’s knee.
Once at McDonalds, he got out of the vehicle and took a phone call – during this time, the woman in the back of the vehicle panicked and managed to get out of the vehicle.
Gediklioglu then got back inside the vehicle and sexually assaulted the woman in the front passenger seat. The woman tried to escape and as she did so, he grabbed her, causing bruising to her thigh.
Staff from the restaurant intervened after the woman’s friend raised the alarm.
Gediklioglu pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was sentenced to four years imprisonment. He must serve three quarters of the sentence, before parole will be considered.
Following this, he will be kept on licence for a further two years. He also received an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order with conditions which prevent him from driving any vehicle not registered to him unless he notifies a police officer.
It also prevents him from driving or offering to drive any lone woman not previously known to him in any vehicle.
As well as this, he will be a registered sex offender for life.
Detective Constable Chris Hughes said: “Gediklioglu committed an extremely sinister offence – in my eyes he identified these women as being vulnerable because they had no doubt consumed alcohol during a night out.
“The pair were looking to get home and had booked a taxi. When they saw Gediklioglu’s vehicle near the taxi rank they questioned whether he was their driver.
“He deceived them and then acted in a way which caused them concern and panic before sexually assaulting one of the women.
“I have no doubt that his victim would have felt extremely frightened and his actions will have had a long lasting impact on her life.
“We take reports of this nature extremely seriously and I am pleased that the court recognised he posed a serious risk of sexual harm to women – I welcome the custodial sentence handed to him.”
