Daily Mail
May 5, 2015
A rape victim has waived her right to anonymity in a bid to warn other women about the perils of getting into an unlicensed taxi.
Sarah Thompson, 21, from Irthlingborough, Northants, has opened up about her ordeal at the hands of Shakeel Ahmed, a man she presumed to be an official taxi driver and urges other women to always take care when travelling late at night.
The attack took place two years ago, but in an interview with The Sun, she said: ‘I have panic attacks and struggle with physical contact ever since the attack.’
Miss Thompson, who was raped in March 2013, felt compelled to make her story public after the tragic death of Ceri Linden, a 20-year-old student who killed herself after she was kidnapped and raped by a fake cabbie.
The carer said: ‘I want to get the message across that it’s just not worth getting into an unmarked taxi for the sake of a night out. It changed my life forever.’
Miss Thompson, who was 19 at the time, had been celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday in Birmingham when she decided to return to her hotel at 2.30am.
She headed to the taxi rank and jumped into Shakeel Ahmed’s car, not knowing he wasn’t a taxi driver at all.
She recalled: ‘I don’t know the city [of Birmingham] very well so didn’t realise he was driving me in the opposite direction to my hotel.
‘I had no idea anything was wrong until he pulled over on the side of a quiet road and I froze with fear.
‘I was in the passenger seat and all of a sudden he leant over and started kissing me aggressively.
‘I tried to back away but he was much stronger than me and I couldn’t get away. I was terrified that if I fought back any more he’d kill me.
‘I closed my eyes to try and block it out, but as he climbed over his heavy weight pinned me into the seat. ‘