Hero taxi driver saves pregnant woman from sex trafficker after being asked to take her to brothel

This is the moment a taxi driver rescued a pregnant woman from a sex trafficker who asked him to drive her to a brothel.

Tahir Mehmood called the police after the Romanian woman burst into tears in his cab in Coventry.

Because of his intervention, officers were able to prevent her being forced into the sex trade.

The unnamed woman was three months pregnant and came to Britain in February 2018 after answering an advert offering work as a masseuse.

Robert Enescu, 26, from Romania, was charged and found guilty at Warwick Crown Court earlier this month of sex trafficking and jailed for nine years in his absence, after he skipped bail.

Robert Enescu, left, was convicted of sex trafficking after a pregnant woman was found by police in a taxi in Coventry (Pictures: West Midlands Police)

Taxi driver Tahir Mehmood rescued the woman by contacting police (Picture: West Midlands Police)

The woman was held hostage in a brothel in London before being moved to Coventry, where she was forced to pose in lingerie for photos posted on sex industry websites.

Enescu ordered a taxi to take the woman to his brothel on St Christian’s Road, Coventry.  'subjected to every sort of torment' in prison

Mr Mehmood, a married father-of-two, called the police after the woman told him she was being forced into prostitution. He is now in line for a commendation from West Midlands Police.

Police bodycam footage shows Mr Mehmood explaining the situation before they speak to the woman, who is sitting in the back of his cab.

Mr Mehmood told Birmingham Live: “The man [Enescu] asked me if I could take her to St Christian's Road. The lady got in the cab. When I go a little, the lady was upset. She was crying.

Police bodycam footage shows the moment officers found the woman in the back of the taxi (Picture: West Midlands Police)

"I said: 'What's up, love? Why are you crying?' I stopped the taxi and said: 'Just tell me what's happened.'

"She said: 'I don't know here, I just came here four days before, come to here to do massage, but they tell me go to prostitution, to do sex, but I don't want to do it.'"

The brothel was raided by police the following day and several other women were rescued. Enescu was arrested at his home in Kingfield Road, Coventry, but has since gone on the run.

Detective Inspector Wes Martin, who led the investigation, said the woman was “kept locked in a room at an address in Enfield with no food or heating” after flying to Luton Airport.

He said: "When our officers intercepted the taxi - following a call from the concerned driver - all she had in her possession was a bag of around 50 condoms Enescu had given her. He'd earlier smashed her mobile phone and stolen what money she had.

"My officers worked tremendously hard to secure this conviction: they safeguarded the woman, liaised with officers in Romania, helped return her safely home and kept in touch while the case progressed.

"It was this compassionate and sensitive response which reassured the woman and gave her the confidence to come back to the UK to give evidence."