London Uber driver jailed for sex attack

The driver will also be placed on the Sex Offender Register for 10 years

Samson Haile appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on Wednesday (Rex Features)

An Uber driver has been jailed after a court found him guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in his cab.

Samson Haile, 32, from Brentford, was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday.

Isleworth Crown Court heard that the driver picked up a 26-year-old female passenger in Ladbroke Grove on the night of 27 February and tried to engage her in a conversation with sexual overtones.

He also said he wanted to have sex with her.

The victim, fearing for her safety, said she wanted to get out of the vehicle, but Haile continued along the road and began to touch her. She managed to flee the car on Cromwell Road, in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and reported the ordeal to the police.

The Metropolitan Police said Haile went on to pick up a group of people including an off-duty female police officer who was also subjected to sexual conversation and invited to have sex.

An information report filed by the officer helped lead to his identification and arrest.

Haile was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, banning him from working as a private hire driver in England and Wales. He will also be on the Sex Offender Register for 10 years.

“Of particular concern was the rapid escalation in the behaviour of Samson Haile. He went from talking about sex to actually touching a lone, vulnerable female in a very short space of time,” said Detective Constable Carly Driscoll, from the Met’s Roads and Transporting Policing Command.

“I would like to praise the victim for having the confidence and courage to report her ordeal to police."

"I hope [the] sentencing gives her a degree of closure and also displays the professionalism and commitment of officers within the Met to investigate allegations of sexual crime," she added.

A spokesperson for Uber welcomed the conviction.

They said: "As soon as we heard what happened, the driver was immediately stopped from using our service and we worked closely with the Metropolitan Police to ensure he was brought to justice."

"The individual had recently passed the same enhanced criminal record checks that all private hire and taxi drivers in London go through as part of Transport for London’s licensing process.”

Additional reporting by PA