Uber driver 'panicked after trying to rape passenger who told him she had HIV'

Suleiman Abdirizak, 42, 'freaked out' when the woman told him she was infected with the disease and doused his penis with water from a squash bottle, it is claimed. Photo / 123RF

A distraught Uber driver washed his genitals with a bottle of water after a passenger he tried to rape said she had HIV to stop him attacking her.

Suleiman Abdirizak, 42, "freaked out" and doused his penis with water from a squash bottle when a woman told him she was infected with the disease, a court has heard.

He was so upset his victim had to comfort him and reassure him he would not contract the virus, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.

Abdirizak is alleged to have raped the woman as he drove her home from a night out in Hoxton, east London.

Prosecutor Sarah Morris said the victim had been out for a meal and drink at Hoxton Bar and Grill on November 10 last year and felt unwell after drinking a bottle of wine.

She ordered an Uber and Abdirizak picked her up, but took her on the wrong route home, jurors heard.

He suggested she cancel an Uber pool request, where passengers ride together for a cheaper rate, so she was his only customer.

He then made "fairly inappropriate" comments to his passenger, Morris said.

During the journey Abdirizak turned off into a dead-end in Stepney, and pulled up as the woman slept to fondle her thigh.

Morris said: 'He got into the back and put his penis into her mouth.
"He said: 'I'll only drive you if you suck my dick'.

"She told him a lie; she told him she had HIV to keep him away from her.

"He immediately left her alone and rinsed out his mouth and penis with water.

"She started comforting him and reassured him that she could not get it by touching.

"She told her flatmate about what had just happened when she got home and he telephoned the police.

"The journey should have taken about 20 minutes. They were in that cab for 43 minutes.

"His telephone shows that for nine minutes they were in fact in Buckle St.

"That's where the rape took place."

Abdirizak said it was the woman who told him to stop the car because she was going to be sick.

"He said she got into the front seat next to him, getting close to him, asking what perfume he was wearing.

"He said it was her idea that they should go somewhere more private to be sick.

"He knew she was drunk, he described her as 'annoying'."

In her police interview the woman said she was "scared inside" as she told the driver she had HIV.

She said: "I remember the car stopped and by the time I woke up I could feel him touching the side of my leg.

"I said 'what are you doing?'. He said: 'You a pretty girl, you must get that a lot'.

"He got off his seat and then came to the back and by the time he came to the back he had already got his penis out.

"I said 'stay away from me'."

She added: "I don't know how I thought of this idea to lie to him, I said I have an illness and you don't want to sleep with me.

"He thought it was an STD or something, I told him I have HIV and have had it for five years.

"I touched your penis, I don't know what could happen.

"He got out a squash bottle from his car and started washing his mouth and penis because he though he was contaminated.

"I told him: 'I won't say anything, just drive me home. You won't get contaminated.'

"He asked: 'Are you sure?'

"I said 'I'm sure, just drive me home'.

"I know he was freaked out. I said "I'll walk you through it, I have had it for five years, don't worry about it'.

"Inside I was scared."

The trial continues.