
A private hire driver has been convicted of sexually assaulting a vulnerable 14-year-old girl in a secluded supermarket car park after offering to drive her home.
Farrukh Naseem Butt, 45, attacked the terrified teenager in the early hours of February 16 last year after pulling his car into a Sainsbury’s car park near Hillend, Edinburgh.
The court heard that Butt had given the schoolgirl his mobile number four days prior following an official booking. The teenager later texted him at around 4:30 am for a ride from a friend's house in Edinburgh to her home in Midlothian.
During the journey, Butt asked to stop for a cigarette and pulled into the car park, where he groped the girl's thigh and forced himself on her. Recalling the horrific ordeal, the victim told Edinburgh Sheriff Court: "He kissed me on the cheek and then snogged me. He put his tongue in my mouth - I told him to stop. I didn't feel comfortable."
As the journey continued, Butt slipped his hand down the victim's jogging bottoms and touched her vagina.
The attack has had a devastating impact on the young girl, leaving her deeply traumatised.
A 16-year-old friend testified that the victim confided in her the following day, stating: "She was scared and didn't really know what to do. She was scared to leave the house, scared to go about. She didn't really want to tell her mum."
The friend added that the victim now "doesn't go out in the dark" and "stays close to home these days."
Butt, an experienced private hire driver of 18 years, denied all the allegations during the two-day trial. He claimed he only pulled into the supermarket car park because his engine was overheating, and argued that the girl had moved to the front seat on her own because it was "more comfortable."
When questioned by prosecutor Corey Laouadi, Butt strongly protested his innocence, stating: "I never touched her, it never happened like that."
However, a jury rejected his version of events, returning a majority guilty verdict after just 90 minutes of deliberation.
Sheriff Douglas Keir described the attack as "a very serious matter" and warned Butt that "all sentencing options are open to the court at this time."
Butt has been placed on the sex offenders register on an interim basis, and his sentencing has been deferred until next month for the preparation of background reports.

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