Attack: Vile Arshad left brave Carly terrified of going in taxisA care worker has spoken of the terrifying moment she was dragged into a home and attacked by a taxi driver she had paid to to take her home.
Carly Robinson was just 17 when she was pulled sleeping from the back seat of a minicab and forced into a house where she was sexually assaulted.
Cab driver Zameer Arshad, a father-of-three, then violently attacked her before pushed the teenager back into the car and driving off as if nothing happened.
The vile taxi driver told police Miss Robinson, now 21, had initiated it once arrested by police.
Now Miss Robinson – who is expecting her first child – has released a grinning picture of herself on the night of the attack to warn other women to be careful when travelling alone.
Brave: Carly is speaking out in the hope of giving other women strength
She said she was not ashamed if what happened but wanted to warn other women to be cautious, even if they had booked a licensed taxi like she had.
“That sick pervert took advantage of me,” she said, waiving her right to anonymity.
“Looking back at the happy photo taken that night, I had no idea my life was about to change. Now I’m moving on and expecting a baby. But I’ll never get a cab by myself again.”
She added: “I hope my story serves as a warning to other young girls. I thought I was safe travelling by myself and trusted the driver to get me home.”
Miss Robinson said on the night of the attack in October 2010 she was out with her friends, Chantelle and Sarah in Clitheroe, Lancashire, when they decided to go home.
They called a reputable taxi company for a lift.
Fears: Carly Robinson, pictured on right with friend Amy, was glad the jury believed her
After the driver dropped off the other women, Miss Robinson was alone. She fell asleep but woke to find the driver dragging her from the car.
“I screamed, ‘what are you doing?’” she said.
“He was pulling me from the car. He pulled me into a house. He hauled me into a bedroom and flung me onto a single bed with no sheets.
“Suddenly he was standing in front of me, unzipping his trousers. I said to him, ‘please don’t do this,’ and was crying but he grabbed my hair and forced my head into his lap.
“He used all his strength to hold me there until he was finished. Then, he pushed me back onto the bed, started lifting my dress.”
Caged: Taxi driver Zameer Arshad sexually assaulted teenage Carly Robinson after agreeing to drive her home
Miss Robinson said she thought, “I can’t let him rape me.”
She added: “I kicked and screamed until he backed away. I yelled, ‘Let me go’."
“I must have startled him because he dragged me back outside to the cab, threw me onto the backseat and sped off.”
She was crying when another car pulled up and the driver took her home and told her to go to the police.
She said: "As soon as I got indoors, I collapsed in a heap. I couldn’t get my head around what had just happened.”
She reported it to the police and within days cab driver Arshad had been arrested.
Fight: Carly shouted at Arshad as he attacked her
In February 2012 at Burnley Crown Court Arshad, then 26, of Accrington, Lancashire, denied sexually assaulting Miss Robinson and claimed she initiated it.
Miss Robinson said: “I told the jury how scared I’d been, how I’d desperately tried to fight him off. Thankfully, they saw through Arshad’s pathetic story, found him guilty of sexual assault.”
Arshad was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment, placed on the sex offenders' register for life, and banned from working with children.
He was also forbidden to work as a driver on any public transport for 15 years.
Speaking after the hearing, DC Helen Mercer, from Accrington CID, said: “People trust taxi drivers to get them home safely and to abuse his position in this way is appalling.
"I would like to praise her for coming forward to the police and for her bravery throughout the trial."
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