Uber diver Alirıza Kurt.
An Uber taxi drive of Turkish decent has been jailed for sexually assaulting a female passenger.
The 42-year-old Ali Riza Kurt of Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park, was sentenced to 18 months in jail by a judge at Inner London Crown Court, Wednesday, 20th January 2016.
He has also been hit with an ‘indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Mr.Kurt can no longer have any females in his vehicle, other than family – and cannot work for any Taxi hiring company in England and Wales.
“This was an excellent result, which has seen a dangerous predator receive a jail sentence, entry on the sex offenders’ register and an extensive sexual harm prevention order.
“The cab enforcement unit’s number one priority is the safety of those travelling in taxis and private hire vehicles. If you commit an offence on London’s transport network we will pursue and arrest you – we will get those responsible,” said inspector Tracy Allison – from the Metropolitan Police’s can enforcement unit.
Ali Riza, who was working for Uber at the time of the assault, has had his car seized.
He will have to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for the next 10 years.
On may 8th 2015, a women called for an Uber driver to pick her up from Brixton, at 11.15pm. The 24-year-old passenger, in shock, scrabbled out the vehicle after Kurt leaned over to her and said, “Are you comfortable with this.”
Four hours later, at 3.50am, May 9th 2015, Riza was arrested by the police.
Tfl’s deputy director of enforcement and on-street operations, Siwan Hayward, said: ”This victim’s bravery in reporting this offence to the police has helped put this sex offender behind bars, preventing him from preying on any other vulnerable women.
“We will continue to work with the police to push for the strongest convictions available to stop incidents like this happening again. If you ever experience unwanted sexual behaviour, report it to the police; you will always be taken seriously and the incident will be fully investigated.”