Fake taxi driver who preyed on vulnerable woman jailed after police intervention in Newcastle
- Perry Richardson
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
A man who posed as a taxi driver to target a vulnerable woman in Newcastle city centre has been jailed for seven years after proactive police patrols intervened before he could drive away.
Kuldip Chahal, 51, was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday after being convicted of kidnap following a trial in May. The court also imposed a three-year extended licence period and a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
The incident happened during the early hours of Sunday 21 December last year after a woman in her 20s became separated from a friend following a night out in Newcastle’s Groat Market. Having booked a taxi to travel home, she was searching for her driver when Chahal approached her.
Police said Chahal spoke to the intoxicated woman before physically guiding her through busy city centre streets for around 10 minutes towards his white Volkswagen Golf parked on Fenkle Street. Officers said he repeatedly directed her, picked her up from the ground and forced her into the vehicle’s front passenger seat after telling her he was taking her home.
Unknown to Chahal, the encounter was being monitored as part of Northumbria Police’s Operation Salus, which deploys both plain clothes and uniformed officers in the city’s night-time economy to identify and safeguard vulnerable people. Working alongside officers monitoring CCTV in real time, the team stopped the vehicle before it was able to leave.
Officers quickly established the woman did not know Chahal and immediately safeguarded her before arresting him on suspicion of kidnap. Subsequent enquiries found Chahal was not a licensed taxi driver and had approached several other women in the city centre before targeting the victim. CCTV evidence showing him physically lifting the woman from the ground formed a key part of the prosecution case.
During sentencing, the court heard the profound impact the incident had on the victim. In her statement, she said her “confidence, independence and sense of safety” had been significantly affected.
She told the court: “I never imagined that something so frightening could happen to me whilst simply spending time with friends. What happened that night has changed me.”
Describing the lasting psychological impact, she added: “The thing I struggle with most is knowing that I was vulnerable and that somebody chose to take advantage of that vulnerability.
“I was a young woman trying to get home after a night out with friends. Instead, I became the target of a man more than twice my age who saw my vulnerability and chose to exploit it.
“I was not seen as a person. I was seen as an opportunity.”
The victim also described missing important milestones with family and friends during the criminal proceedings, including being unable to attend a close friend’s funeral while preparing to give evidence. She said the experience had left her suffering anxiety and stress, adding that she no longer felt like the person she had been before the attack.
Detective Constable Courtney Cran, who led the investigation in Newcastle’s CID, said: “Firstly, I would like to commend the victim-survivor, who has shown immense bravery, resilience, and composure throughout the full investigation and the lengthy criminal proceedings that followed.
“Chahal is a predatory individual who deliberately targeted a lone, vulnerable young woman who was simply trying to get home safely after a night out with friends.
“He showed absolutely no regard for her welfare or the devastating impact his actions would have, repeatedly denying any wrongdoing and forcing her to relive her trauma during the trial.
“Working alongside neighbourhood policing colleagues and key partners, I was quickly able to unravel Chahal’s web of lies and present clear evidence of his intentions that evening.”
Detective Constable Cran added: “Operation Salus exists to identify vulnerability, with officers on hand to intervene in any situations which appeared concerning or unsafe in the city centre.
“Thanks to the vigilance of officers that evening, who saw something was not quite right, they were quickly able to intervene and bring Chahal to a stop.
“The woman was safeguarded within minutes, after it became clear she had no idea who this man was and had been tricked and forced into his vehicle.
“This has been a terrifying ordeal for her, and while incidents of this nature remain rare, this case demonstrates exactly why proactive operations such as Operation Salus are so important. We regularly deploy tactics to identify anyone who is vulnerable, especially after a night out.
“While no result will ever take away the sheer impact of Chahal’s offending, I hope today’s outcome provides the victim-survivor with some sense of justice and allows her to begin moving forward now that he is set to spend a lengthy spell behind bars.
“As a Force, we’ll continue to take a proactive approach to keep people safe in our cities and towns, working together with partner agencies to crack down on suspicious activity such as fake and unlicensed taxi drivers.”
