TEMUR SHAH JAILED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT IN LONDON'S WEST END

A man named Temur Shah, aged 45, has been sentenced to prison after committing a disturbing sexual assault on a vulnerable woman passenger in London. The incident occurred in the early hours of a January morning in 2018, when Shah was operating as an Uber driver in the West End area of London.

According to court proceedings, the 27-year-old woman, who was riding in Shah's vehicle, began to feel unwell during the journey. She leaned out of the cab door to vomit, and during this moment of apparent distress, Shah stopped the car and asked her to move into the front seat. As she was about to vomit, Shah halted the vehicle a second time, then leaned over to open the door and placed his hand under her bra, an act of sexual misconduct that was both invasive and unwarranted.

Despite her clear discomfort and her plea for him not to touch her, Shah continued his assault by touching her genital area over her clothes while she was sick into the gutter outside the vehicle. The woman, feeling helpless, told Shah not to touch her again but was unable to leave the car immediately because she lacked the money and her phone's battery was dead, preventing her from calling for help. She was eventually dropped off near her home, after which she reported the assault to the police.

Prosecutor Kate Blumgart highlighted the lasting impact of the attack on the victim, revealing that she has since experienced significant anxiety, including difficulty getting into taxis and a fear that Shah might know her address. Blumgart also shared that the victim recently suffered a panic attack while in a minicab with her husband and found it challenging to disclose the incident to her parents, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt.

Law enforcement officials from the Metropolitan Police's taxi and private hire policing team utilized CCTV footage and GPS data from Uber to identify Temur Shah as the perpetrator. He was arrested in February 2018 and subsequently charged. After a week-long trial, Shah was convicted of sexual assault in January 2019.

During the court hearing, Shah's defense attorney Hugh D'Aguilar expressed concern about his client's fear of imprisonment, citing his responsibilities towards his three children and elderly mother, who was present in court and visibly distressed as the sentence was announced. The judge, Nicholas Wood, emphasized that the assault was particularly aggravated by the time and location—early morning hours in an unfamiliar part of London—where the victim had limited options for escape. The judge noted the victim's own words, asking,