Vasil Georgiev (Image: Staffordshire Police)
A man who posed as a taxi driver sexually assaulted a woman after she got inside his car. Vasil Georgiev, 37, claimed to be a taxi driver while driving a Honda Jazz around Burton-on-Trent in August 2022 when the unsuspecting victim got inside the vehicle.
She was later sexually assaulted in the car. Georgiev, of Swadlincote, Derbyshire, was arrested on the same day and questioned in custody.
Georgiev has now been locked up for four years after admitting sexual assault at Stafford Crown Court. He was also ordered to pay £190 in surcharge costs.
Detective Inspector Cathryn Holland, who dealt with the case, said: “I want to thank the victim for her exceptional bravery in supporting this investigation and making sure Georgiev faces justice. We want victims of sexual assault to know that they can speak to specially-trained officers in confidence who will do everything possible to put those responsible behind bars.”
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/man-posing-taxi-driver-sexually-26284998
In police interview, Georgiev answered no comment. Although he has no convictions in England, he does have seven in Bulgaria which includes for human trafficking for the purposes of prostitution, extortion by threat or other forms of coercion and rape of a minor.
A statement read out in court from the victim’s daughter said: “She does not give a true reflection of how this incident has impacted her and doesn’t believe it has affected her health or memory in any way. As her daughter I’ve seen the true impact it has had on her and can see it has brought on and accelerated her dementia and had a negative impact on her health and the ability to do the things she’s always done like gardening.
“As a family we are in complete disbelief that someone could do this to my mum. She has become dependent on family for basic needs like shopping and maintaining her home and garden like she did before the incident. She will never get back what she has lost.”
Stefan Kolodynski, defending, said credit should be given for his guilty plea which meant the victim avoided coming to court, adding it would have an “enormous calming effect upon the victim and her family of knowing that the man accountable has admitted his wrong-doings and is accepting his punishment.”
He added that there were no threats of violence with the abduction and the “length of the episode was thankfully very short”. Mr Kolodynski said: “It’s clear from her interview and our meeting with her that despite her age she’s a robust and stoic lady. The guilty plea will help with her recovery of what happened.”
He urged the judge to have some caution over the claims from her family that it accelerated her dementia and said that the court did not have the facts over his crimes in Bulgaria.
His honour judge John Edwards labelled it a “contemptible offence” in broad daylight on a vulnerable woman. He said: “You took advantage of her obvious frailty and insecurity. It’s highly likely you did more to her but I have to sentence for what you did do, not possibly or probably did.
“It was extremely distressing and she was forced to open the door and fall onto the road. For a lady with less fortitude than she, it could have had far-reaching consequences.”
He added that during his interview with the victim she was “sharp as a pin”. Judge Edwards jailed Georgiev, of Wellwood Road, Swadlincote, to four years in jail and placed him on the sex offenders register for life.