
A former translator for the British Army who became a private hire driver after arriving in Scotland from Afghanistan has been convicted of raping a teenage passenger in his PHV.
Abdul Nabizada, 35, targeted the 19-year-old student after picking her up from a night out in Edinburgh on November 13, 2021. Instead of driving the woman to her home, Nabizada drove her to a secluded area in Joppa, trapped her in the vehicle, and took her mobile phone before carrying out the assault.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard harrowing testimony from the victim, who had left her friends early to go home.
She told jurors that Nabizada repeatedly asked her for sex during the journey, despite her saying no and telling him she had a boyfriend.
"He said 'can we have sex'. He said it would be quick and it would take five minutes. I said no," she testified, adding that he kept apologising but persisted.
Describing the moment she was raped, the woman said: "I can remember it being really sore."
She told the court that she kept begging him: "Please stop it. Please stop touching me. It was horrible."
Following the attack, she fled the taxi and hid in nearby bushes before contacting a loved one.
Nabizada, who lived in Pilton Park, Edinburgh, denied all wrongdoing during the three-day trial.
He told the court that he had arrived in the UK in 2016 after working as a tailor and a translator for the US, Danish, and British militaries in Afghanistan. Despite his claims of innocence, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict late on Tuesday afternoon, 7 July.
Following the verdict, Judge John Morris KC placed Nabizada on the Sex Offenders' Register and remanded him in custody.
Defence lawyer, David Taylor, acknowledged that a prison sentence is inevitable for the crime.
Nabizada, who has no previous convictions, will remain in custody until he is officially sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on August 11.

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