- Mohamad Sabbagh drove female passenger to a secluded spot in his unlicenced cab before attacking her
- The Syrian continues to blame victim despite a court being told she was ‘intoxicated’ and in ‘no position to consent’ at the time of the incident
- Sabbagh, of Edinburgh, collapsed in court as he was handed a seven year jail term
A bogus taxi driver who raped a vulnerable young woman after a night out collapsed in court yesterday as he was jailed for seven years.
Mohamad Sabbagh slumped in the dock at the High Court in Edinburgh as he was sentenced for attack of his intoxicated victim, prompting an emotional outburst by a female relative.
After a brief adjournment the judge, Lady Ross, returned to the bench to complete her sentencing as he stood in the dock.
The 40-year-old was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and banned from contacting or attempting to contact his victim.
The court had heard how Sabbagh drove the 25-year-old victim to a secluded spot in Edinburgh before demanding that she has sex with him and raped her in his unlicensed taxi.
She later told her mother that she’d begged him to take her home, but was subjected to the predatory sexual assault at a car park in the city’s Niddrie area.
He had earlier picked up the woman and her friend after they went for a night out in the city. But once he’d dropped of the pal, he carried out the attack on the stranger.
Sabbagh, who is originally from Syria but now lives in Edinburgh, had earlier denied raping the woman on May 1 in 2022 claiming she consented to sex and had seduced him.
However, the jury unanimously convicted him of rape ‘whilst operating as an unlicensed taxi driver in an unlicensed taxi’.
Lady Ross told Sabbagh: ‘The complainer got into your car believing you would take her home. She was a stranger to you in need of help and vulnerable. You exploited her vulnerability.’
She continued: ‘She was intoxicated and she was in no position to consent to have sex with you.
In her own words she was drifting in and out of consciousness and she was scared. She just wanted to go home.’
Lady Ross pointed out: ‘You continue to deny responsibility, maintaining the position that what took place was consensual and indeed initiated by the complainer and in that sense you seek to blame the victim,’
The judge said the crime had a serious impact on the victim and added: ‘Although you have not previously served a custodial sentence the nature and seriousness of your offence means there is no alternative to a prison sentence.
‘This is necessary to fulfil the relevant sentencing purposes of punishment, the expression of society’s concern about sexual offending of this kind and the public interest in deterring such offending,’ said the judge.
A further charge of operating a taxi without a licence was withdrawn during the trial.
Defence counsel Kenneth Cloggie said Sabbagh has been in Scotland since 2018.
He came from Syria originally but moved to Egypt with his wife and three children in 2013 before coming to the UK.
He told the court that Sabbagh was assessed as posing a moderate risk of reoffending.
Scotland’s Procurator Fiscal for High Court Sexual Offending, Katrina Parkes said: ‘Mohamad Sabbagh is a predatory individual who poses a danger to women.
‘The bravery of his victim has resulted in this conviction, and he will now face the consequences of his depraved behaviour.’
Police Scotland Detective Inspector Arthur McEwan added: ‘Sabbagh’s behaviour was abhorrent.
‘The victim believed he was a taxi driver, and she would be taken to her destination safely but instead she was put through an extremely traumatic ordeal.
‘She has shown tremendous strength during this case.’