'Monstrous' predator paid off taxi driver so he could sexually assault unconscious woman, 18, in the back of his cab

A 'monstrous' predator paid off a taxi driver in order to sexually assault an unconscious teenager in the back of his cab. Omed Mahmood, 39, preyed on the 18-year-old victim after leaving a nightclub in Warrington in the early hours of the morning in October last year.

He approached the woman and walked with her to a nearby taxi rank. CCTV footage taken at about 5am then showed Mahmood, from Atherton near Wigan, pull the woman towards a taxi as she tried to walk away.

The taxi was being driven by Jojo Joseph Thirunilam and was initially bound for Liverpool. However, once the victim had fallen asleep, Mahmood signalled to the driver to turn the vehicle around.

READ MORE: Man who was stabbed to death outside Oldham curry house is named

He could be seen handing a number of bank notes to the driver before the taxi headed towards Mahmood’s home address. During the hour-long journey, the victim was repeatedly sexually assaulted while unconscious.

Thirunilam, 49, watched from the front and made licking gestures with his tongue. There was no previous association between Mahmood and Thirunilam before the incident and they were not known to one another.

When the taxi arrived at Mahmood’s home shortly after 6am, he forcefully pulled the victim from the vehicle. Once inside his flat, he sexually assaulted her while she was in and out of consciousness.

The victim left the flat in a 'distressed state' almost two hours later while Mahmood was sleeping. Police were called after she raised the alarm at nearby shop.

Mahmood, of Brooklands Avenue, Atherton, pleaded guilty to attempted rape and four counts of sexual assault in the taxi. Following a trial earlier this year, he was convicted of attempted rape, sexual assault by