Spyros Ntounis, 35, groomed a tipsy 14-year-old schoolgirl after picking her up and telling her she ‘looked hot and had nice lips’, a court heard today
An Uber driver groomed a tipsy 14-year-old schoolgirl after picking her up and telling her she ‘looked hot and had nice lips’, a court heard today.
Spyros Ntounis, 35, from West Ealing, admitted slowing his cab down to 5mph as the journey finished so he could ‘spend more time with her’.
The taxi driver is accused of attempting to groom the teenager in April last year after she used the online minicab firm to book a journey home from a night out at a friend’s home.
She told Kingston Crown Court: ‘He was saying I was hot and I had nice lips.
‘I thought he was being nice, but then I thought it was a bit odd.
‘As he got close to my house he started driving slowly because he said he wanted to spend more time with me, which I thought was odd.’
Allister Walker, prosecuting, said: ‘At the time of the offence the defendant was a mini-cab driver working for Uber who collected the complainant from her friend’s address at 9.30pm.
‘During the short journey he made inappropriate comments and obtained her phone number and over the next few days he sent her messages, asking her to meet him.
‘The prosecution say this was for some kind of sexual activity.’
He added: ‘She had drunk some rum and coke with her friends and says on a scale of drunkenness she was “five or six” out of ten.’
The teenager’s 15-year-old boyfriend had seen her off on the taxi ride from Barnes to Kingston-upon-Thames.
Mr Walker said: ‘This driver asked her how old she was and how old her boyfriend was and she told him she was fourteen.
‘He put the internal light on and looked at her via the rear-view mirror and told her she was “hot” and had “nice lips” and gave her some chewing gum.
‘He told her to text him her name and during the journey the complainant sent a message to her friend, indicating her discomfort.’
Ntounis, who claimed to be 26, then started sending WhatsApp messages to the schoolgirl.
He said: ‘I can give you lessons in whatever you want’, adding ‘when are you out next time?’
He said: ‘Do I pass the age test?’ and ‘I would love it’.
The teenager showed her parents, who urged her to block him on Whatsapp and contact police.
However Ntounis then started sending the 14-year-old ordinary text messages.
He wrote: ‘We can be friends and I can help you if you want with a taxi…I can give you a free ride sometime.’
Ntounis handed himself into Islington Police Station a month later and told officers he recalled little of the journey.
Mr Walker added: ‘He now admits the texts, saying they were innocent motives and he wanted to support her.
‘However, the prosecution say he took advantage of his position with her and the motive was to have sexual contact.
‘His intention was to meet her later for sex.’
The trial continues.
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