A man who kidnapped a woman while posing as a taxi driver has been jailed.
Damian Watson held his victim captive and forced her to expose her breasts to him after mistakenly believing he was her Uber vehicle near Anfield Stadium in April.
The 36-year-old drove her to a ‘secluded alleyway’ in Bootle rather than her planned destination of Concert Square before making ‘aggressive’ requests to undress.
Watson, a newspaper delivery driver, only released the woman from his white Mercedes van in Liverpool city centre after she started to hyperventilate.
Police tracked him to his home address from the co-ordinates of his victim’s abandoned 999 call and discovered mobile phone footage of her on a device.
He admitted charges of kidnap and causing a person to engage in sexual activity against their will before sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday (June 26).
Watson, formerly of Liscard, was jailed for five-and-a-half years in addition to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and signing the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.
Recorder Anna Pope KC said: “I am satisfied that, on that night, you were out on your own, looking to find a lone female against whom to commit a sexual offence.
“You prepared for your offending by setting up your mobile phone, so that the camera was facing the back seat.
“This demonstrates to me a significant degree of pre-planning in your offending.
“Women on a night out in Liverpool have every right to feel safe.
“Anyone who seeks out lone women then goes on to commit serious offences can expect significant punishment.
You knew what you were going do before she got into the van.”