Nigerian national, Lazarus Olleh, who lured an 18-year-old girl to a flat before raping her has been jailed in the UK.
The 38-year-old taxi driver was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, following a trial at Hull Crown Court.
He will be deported at the end of his sentence.
Olleh had been in the UK for about six weeks when he targeted the victim in Hull in the early hours of October 29, 2022.
A spokesperson for the force said Olleh of Belmont Street in Hull, was not a licensed taxi driver and had been waiting for an opportunity to attack the victim.
Olleh parked in a taxi rank outside Propaganda nightclub before coaxing the young woman, who had been at a Halloween-themed night and was drunk, into his car, Hull Crown Court heard.
He denied raping the teenager but a jury at Hull Crown Court decided he was guilty of the attack. A previous jury had failed to reach a verdict.
Jeremy Evans, prosecuting, said: “He drove her a short distance, parked up in what turned out to be a short walk from his friend’s flat on Whitefriargate.”
He almost “frogmarched” the woman and she had little option but to comply because of her drunken state.
“He was preying upon a drunken woman,” said Mr. Evans. “This was the very reason that he targeted her.”
He added: “Such was her state of fear at the time that she could do nothing to resist. Her next recollection was losing her consciousness once again.”
After the incident, the woman was awoken by a second man and helped from the bed to a car. Olleh asked her for her phone number and she gave a false number.
DNA tests confirmed Olleh, of Belmont Street, Hull, had sex with the woman.
Liam Gregory, mitigating, said: “It’s something that he is going to have to come to terms with. He still feels that he is not guilty of this offence.”
Jailing Olleh for 12 years, Judge Mark Bury told him: “You were on the prowl outside Propaganda and you found exactly what you were looking for in her.
“It’s plain that she had no capacity to consent. She was too drunk and too tired. There was some abduction because she did not want to go with you. She was just not able to stop you taking her.
“She has suffered severe psychological harm. She was devastated in the hours following the incident. You were a total stranger. This is the sort of nightmare that people worry about
The judge added: “You are a Nigerian national and that means that you will be deported at the end of your sentence.”
Olleh showed no emotion as he was led to the cells.
Speaking after the sentencing, Det. Con Ethan Anderson, of Humberside Police, said Olleh is a danger to women.
“He saw the girl and went over to her, spoke with her, and took her to his car.
“He sat her in the passenger seat and then drove her to a nearby flat where he raped her,”
“Olleh is a clear danger to women, he was waiting for an opportunity that night to take and rape a girl,” he added.
“The young victim has shown huge resilience in retelling her experience to us and I have nothing but praise for her fortitude.
“This man would have continued to offend if she hadn’t come forward and reported that she had been raped to us.”
Olleh was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life. (LIB)