Fake taxi driver kidnapped woman and forced her to strip

A man who posed as a taxi driver to kidnap a woman and force her to take her clothes off as he filmed her has been jailed.

Merseyside Police said Damian Watson, 36, of School Close, in Liscard, was driving his white Mercedes van when he picked up the woman in the Anfield area of Liverpool in April.

When he refused to let her out of the car the terrified woman - who had thought him to be an Uber driver - faked an illness and Watson let her out.

Watson, who admitted kidnap and causing a person to engage in sexual activity against their will, was jailed for five years and six months at Liverpool Crown Court.

Police said the woman had been for a night out and ordered an Uber taxi on her phone.

Thinking Watson was the driver, she got into the vehicle and it drove off.

During the journey, the victim noticed the driver had stopped in an alleyway she did not recognise.

She asked where they were and Watson replied, "We're in Bootle now, love." He started driving again and then stopped in another alleyway.

He then turned to her and demanded she remove her top in an aggressive manner.

The terrified woman felt she had no option but to obey and kept asking to be let out of the car, but Watson refused.

She pretended to hyperventilate which made Watson panic and begin driving again. The victim made a 999 call but did not speak, and then rang her boyfriend.

Watson eventually let her out in Liverpool city centre.

Police tracked Watson to his home by the co-ordinates of the abandoned 999 call.

They found he had filmed the woman with another device in the car.

Amie Gouldson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: " Watson is a predatory offender who exploited a woman's trust, posing as a taxi driver to carry out a planned and appalling sexual attack."

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