Mini cab driver Abdulkadir Abdalla ‘toured the West End looking for women to attack’

A minicab driver ‘patrolled’ London’s West End looking for drunken women to  abuse, a court heard.

Abdulkadir Abdalla, 34, is accused of assaulting two women in his car after they had been enjoying a night out.

The second woman messaged her friends and her cousin telling them she was terrified, Southwark crown court heard.

Catherine Milsom, prosecuting, said: ‘The first complainant had been enjoying a night out with some friends after work on 31 October 2024.

‘You will hear how, at approximately 2am, on 1 November 2024, she and her friend left the Ku Bar in Soho.

‘She had ordered an Uber via her phone when it did not arrive, her friend located another taxi outside the bar and helped her into the back of it to ensure she arrived home safely.

‘This second taxi belonged to the defendant, Mr Abdulla.

‘You will see CCTV footage which shows Mr Abdalla pulling up in his Black Mercedes and waiting until the complainant is helped into the back of the car.

‘During the journey, she will tell you that Mr Abdalla stopped the vehicle and told her to sit in the front passenger seat. She obeyed.

‘As she sat in the front passenger seat Mr Abdalla asked her what music she liked before reaching his hand over and starting to touch her breasts over her clothing.

‘She will tell you that she repeatedly pushed Mr Abdalla’s hand away from her breast and continued to ask him to take her home.

‘She then believes that she blacked out for approximately half an hour.

‘She awoke to find Mr Abdalla dragging her by the shoulder out of his car, telling her, her taxi was here.

‘She felt confused as she believed that the Uber she was in was taking her home.

‘However, she got into the new car and arrived home at 3:53am, going straight to bed.

‘The next morning she checked her phone to find that another Uber had been ordered from her phone, during the time when she was blacked out.

‘She also found a video from inside the original Uber taxi.

‘She still does not know what happened during the time she was blacked out.

‘She reported the incident to the police and gave her first statement on 1 November 2024.’

The second complainant had been partying at a bar in Piccadilly Circus before she was allegedly assaulted by Abdalla.

‘On 7 March 2025, following an evening out, the second complainant, left the
‘Be At One’ bar on Greek Street’, said Ms Milsom.

She then got into Abdalla’s taxi, the court heard

‘You will hear how shortly after they started driving, Mr Abdalla stopped the car, asking the complainant to come and sit next to him in the front passenger seat.

‘He asked her what music she liked and then, she will tell you, Mr Abdalla grabbed her face and kissed her before putting his hands on her thigh, onto her underwear and penetrated her vagina with two of his fingers.

‘She will tell you that she froze. And that Mr Abdalla continued to penetrate her with his fingers between three and six times.

‘Throughout her time in the taxi, the complainant will say she repeatedly asked Mr Abdalla to take her back to where she lived.

‘And when she realised he was driving in the wrong direction, fearing what might be next, she asked him to let her out of the car.

‘You will see WhatsApp messages from the complainant at the time of this incident. She tells her friends she is scared.

‘Eventually after repeated requests from the alleged victim, Mr Abdalla stopped his car and let her out of the car.

‘She, was then able to order another Uber via the app on her phone. The second driver arrived at 03:35am.

‘You will hear from his witness statement how he found the complainant crying on the pavement, extremely distressed.

‘This distress continued as she was driven back. And you will hear
the extent of this distress in various voice messages from the complainant to her cousin.

‘The second Uber driver then reported the incident to police.

Abdalla was arrested on 10 March 2025 in his taxi and answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.

‘It is the Crown’s case that Mr Abdalla used his car and his licence as a taxi driver to patrol roads with popular bars and clubs, looking for vulnerable women, women who just wanted to go home’, said Ms Milsom.

‘He would watch and wait, offering to drive them home safely.

‘He sought women who were intoxicated. Making them sit up in the front passengers seat, taking advantage of their vulnerability, alone with him, in his car to sexually abuse them.

‘And when he was finished, he let them out of his taxi and left them either alone, or handed them over to someone else to take home.’

Abdalla, of Goldsmith Road, Southwark, south London, denies two counts of sexual assault, one couunt of assault by penetration and one count of false imprisonment.

The trial continues.