Man jailed after trying to rape vulnerable woman looking for a taxi home

Warning: this article contains descriptions which some readers may find distressing.
A man who tried to rape a woman looking for a safe taxi ride home in Leicester has been jailed.
Ghulan Mohammed, of Princess Street, Burton on Trent, had driven to Leicester looking for a sex worker when he came across the vulnerable woman.
The woman, who was staying at a Holiday Inn on St Nicholas Circle, came across Mohammed on Castle Street outside the Unite Students building.
He spotted her at approximately 9:30pm on 18 December 2023 and pursued her for an hour around the streets of Leicester.
She was severely incapacitated due to alcohol and did not speak any English.
Their encounter was caught on CCTV at around 10pm as she asked him if he was taxi driver. He wasn’t, but convinced her to get into his car.
He then drove her to several separate locations, sexually assaulting her and attempting to rape her over the course of two hours.
When he stopped later at the BP garage on Groby Road back in Leicester she tried to get help from staff, but was only rescued when her friends traced her location to the car park of the Holiday Inn on Hinckley Road at just before 2am.
Her friends found her in his car, muddy and covered in bruises. Mohammed had no trousers on.
The woman had very little memory of what happened because of how much she had drunk.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it managed to build a case around Mohammed’s actions and behaviour, and the translator app the victim was using as she only spoke Mandarin.
The app recorded sections of their conversation, including the victim asking Mohammed if he was a taxi driver, her screaming at him to stop and asking for her clothes.
Ghulan Mohammed has now been sentenced to seven years and three months for attempted rape and sexual assault.
Maimuna Bappa from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Ghulan Mohammed subjected his victim to a terrifying ordeal, targeting her and preying on her because she was vulnerable through drink.
“The victim had very little recollection of what had happened, other than that she was being attacked and was determined not to give in to Mohammed’s sexual advances.
“Ghulan Mohammed can have been in no doubt that she was not consenting to any sexual activity, but continued to assault her, trying to get her into a hotel room and even following her when she had been recovered by her friends.
“This is an extremely dangerous sexual predator and the victim has shown extraordinary courage to resist him during the attack and to give what help she can to the investigation and prosecution.”
If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, the following links may be able to provide some advice and support:
NHS
Rape crisis
The Survivors Trust
NSPCC
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