Taxi driver sex assault victim would “have been safer walking home alone in the dark”

By Eimear Dodd

A woman who was sexually assaulted by a taxi driver has told a court she would “have been safer walking home alone in the dark”.

A victim impact statement was read to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday on the woman’s behalf during the sentence hearing of Samir Lakhlef (53).

The woman said she was “always told to be careful around men” as a young woman and advised to take steps to be safe, including minding her drink.

She said she chose to take a taxi to get home safely and had “trusted this driver to get me home safe.”

“On this occasion, I would have been safer walking home alone in the dark”.

Lakhlef (53) of Ballyogan Drive, Carrickmines, Dublin 18, pleaded guilty to sexual assault on  February 13, 2022.

He has several previous convictions, including one for sexual assault for which he received a two-month suspended sentence at the District Court in 2021.

Imposing a three-year sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said Lakhlef, as a taxi driver, was in a position of trust, which was aggravating and that Lakhlef took advantage of the victim, who was intoxicated.

An investigating garda gave evidence that the woman in her 20s had been out socialising and had some drinks on February 12, 2022.

She remembered leaving a pub, then her next memory was being in the back of a car, which she knew was a taxi because she saw the meter.

The court heard the victim must have been picked up off the street but has no recollection of this.

She didn’t book a taxi using any app, when she checked her phone following this incident.

The woman said she woke up in the taxi and felt something touch her leg. She noticed the taxi driver was rubbing her thigh.

She sat up and the taxi driver looked at her, then stopped rubbing her thigh. She saw the fare on the meter was €31.

The taxi continued driving and she directed him towards her address.

However, she made a slight mistake, telling him to turn down a cul-de-sac and she then said her house was there.

She searched for money to pay the fare and gave him a €20 note, which the driver pointed to on the floor.

The woman got out of the car and walked towards the front door of a nearby house, pretending it was her home.

As the taxi turned and drove away, she hid. The woman then called her mother before walking out of the cul-de-sac.

A woman on the street offered her assistance as she was in a distressed state.

The court was told the woman couldn’t recall how long she spent in the taxi.

Gardai were called around 1.45 am, and the woman later went to a sexual assault treatment unit.

During their investigation, CCTV was obtained from the cul-de-sac, which identified the taxi as a silver Toyota Prius.

Lakhlef was the registered owner of this car. On June 18, 2022, gardai went to his home, and he answered the door in bare feet.

After gardai told him they intended to arrest him, Lakhlef asked for time to put on shoes and socks but didn’t return.

Gardai waited for a further 30 minutes, but he didn’t reappear.

Gardai searched Lakhelf’s house later that June when he wasn’t present, and documents relating to the car were found.

Lakhelf’s solicitor later contacted gardai, and he met them by arrangement in May 2023.

He denied any wrongdoing when interviewed, but acknowledged the car was his and he was the sole driver.

Lakhelf also provided a DNA sample, and forensic analysis identified his DNA on the women’s tights and the inside front of her underwear.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she was signed off work for a week following this incident, and she spent the week crying, wondering why it had happened to her.

She said she struggled with sleep in the weeks after and questioned if things could have been different if she hadn’t gone out that night, taken a different taxi, left with friends or left at a different time.

She said she still struggles to get into a taxi alone almost three years on and won’t hail a taxi from the street in case something happens again.

She also feels she needs to share her location with others if she gets a taxi.

The investigating garda agreed with defence counsel that his client reached around while driving and didn’t get into the back of the taxi.

It was further accepted that Lakhlef’s solicitors contacted gardai and made arrangements for an interview.

Counsel outlined that Lakhelf left the jurisdiction for several months after gardai went to his house in June 2022 because his father was dying.

The garda replied that he was unaware of the defendant’s location during this time.

The garda also accepted that while Lakhlef denied any wrongdoing during the interview, he made some admissions which assisted the investigation and entered an early guilty plea.

Defence counsel outlined that Lakhlef no longer drives a taxi but has continued to work to support his family.

He is married with three children and a letter was handed to the court from his wife.

Lakhlef came to Ireland from Algeria in 1995 and is an Irish citizen.

Counsel said there was a breach of trust, which was aggravating, along with Lakhlef’s previous convictions.

He asked the court to take into account that his client returned to Ireland to deal this case, and entered an early guilty plea, without a trial date being set.

Counsel said he was instructed to apologise to the victim, and a letter of apology was handed to the court.

Counsel noted a custodial term would have an impact on Lakhlef’s family and asked the court to consider suspending a portion of any sentence imposed.

Having imposed sentence, Judge Nolan declined to suspend any portion of it.

“It seems to me that he cannot learn from his time in custody; he will never learn.

A suspended sentence won’t teach him,” the judge said.