Uber bans driver seen in social media video in back of car with his trousers down next to young woman holding her head in her hands – as Rochdale council says police are investigating

From the Daily Mail

Update at 11pm BST from the Manchester Evening News

Greater Manchester Police investigated after a video was circulated on social media, they said. Officers have now charged Mohammed Jamal, 37, of Shaw, Oldham with soliciting. . . The force confirmed that the charge was in relation to an alleged incident involving an adult female in a taxi in Thames Street in Rochdale in the early hours of Easter Sunday (April 9).

“adult female”? She looks very young and even the Muslim householder, outraged at such behaviour during Ramadan, described her a a kid; I hope this is not another attempt to gloss over a girl of barely 16, therefore technically an adult for the purposes of sexual activity, making a “life choice” as a sex worker. 

Now this has finally caught the attention of the police and a mainstream newspaper I’ll repeat it here. I have been following the efforts (now successful) of D Atherton and other tweeters to bring this to the attention of the police and Uber (who were not interested at first) and then to his credit the Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd took it up. 

Uber today banned one of its drivers following an alarming video where he was caught with his trousers down in the back of his vehicle with a female passenger.

The Uber driver was spooked after parking outside someone’s house. The driver with a Rochdale private hire badge was confronted by a resident who spotted him outside his house at around 9pm on Easter Sunday.

The man filming the incident taps on the window and the Uber driver immediately pulls up his pants and jogging bottoms. The woman kneeling on the back seat tries to hide her face.

Filming the Uber driver’s face, he says: ‘Yo, what you’re doing? Brother, what are you doing? In the month of Ramadan and you’re doing stuff like this? What the f*** are you doing? This is disgusting. What are you doing? I’ve got kids inside here.’

Filming the Uber badge on the Toyota Auris, he says: ‘What kind of taxi are you? You dirty b***ard’.

The Uber driver repeatedly says: ‘I’m sorry. I said I’m sorry. Bro, I’m sorry.’

He slowly gets out of the car and back into the driver’s seat before driving away.

We don’t know how old the young woman is, or if of age, whether she was in a condition capable of giving informed consent. But the impression is of youth and vulnerability, as evidenced by the householder’s reaction “he’s f***ing raping a little kid in the back of his car. . . ” Some have criticised him for not immediately helping the girl and being more concerned with the proprieties around Ramadan; I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for providing evidence and making the incident publicly known so that action can (and must) be taken. 

The video, shared widely on social media, has sparked a response from Uber, who (eventually) said: ‘We are horrified by what is depicted in the video and are taking action. We have banned the driver while we investigate and are working directly with the police.’

Rochdale Borough Council said: ‘This is a live police investigation and we are liaising with Greater Manchester Police with a view to acting on any information they confirm and share with the Council.’

Labour MP for Rochdale, Tony Lloyd, told MailOnline: ‘This must be taken very seriously and I’ve asked Greater Manchester Police to investigate this. I expect a very rapid investigation by the police as well as by Uber.  This is a really worrying video and a rapid investigation is necessary. The protection of young people is paramount and this video needs to be investigated to give the public reassurance and to protect vulnerable young people’.

MailOnline has asked Greater Manchester Police to comment.

If I read more I’ll update