Isaac Mabwa kidnapped a woman and drove her round for over and hour
Isaac Mabwa. Picture: Met Police
A 33-year-old man from Greenford has been jailed for nine years for kidnapping a woman after tricking her to getting into his car with the intention of sexually assaulting her.
Isaac Mabwa of Melville Avenue was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday, 29 November. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.
He had previously been found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and committing an offence with intent to comment a sexual offence at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday, 24 August.
In the early hours of 8 May 2017, Mabwa, who worked as a barber, was driving a hire car through central London when he came across a woman who was walking on Euston Road. He stopped his car and offered the woman a lift home.
Believing he was driving a taxi or minicab, the 25-year-old victim got into the car, however she quickly realised something was wrong when Mabwa began driving in the opposite direction from her home towards west London. He ignored her pleas to let her out.
During the journey Mabwa started to take cocaine and the victim tried to get out of the vehicle several times, but he stopped her from doing so. She was able to message her boyfriend and a friend and also sent them her location.
After around an hour and a half, Mabwa stopped at an unlit car park and the victim began to scream and sound the horn of the car. These noises were heard by a member of the public and the victim was able to escape from the car.
Mabwa left the car park and was detained by officers a short time later as the passer-by who intervened had taken note of his registration. The judge praised this man for his actions and recommended him for a High Sheriff Award.
Following a what police describe as a complex and lengthy investigation with Mabwa claiming the trip had been a consensual ‘joy ride’ , he was charged in April 2020.
The woman said in her victim impact statement, "Since this happened I began to sleep badly. I cannot sleep for more than four hours at a time.
"I used to ask my friends not to leave me alone at any time. Sometimes it's days until I force myself to go out.
"I have to put music on my headphones to go to and from the street. I feel my legs shaking when I am alone and my breathing becomes accelerated just thinking someone could be looking at me.
"I have stopped working. I only go out when I run out of food. I spend most of my time alone at home where I feel calm and safe.
"I no longer like to be touched and I have become unloving.
"Some days I feel I'm worthless and difficult to love like that. The problem is not getting any better. On the contrary it's getting worse by the day and I do not want to continue like this. I want to be happy, positive, smile and live a beautiful life."
Detective Constable Natalie Witt, who worked on the investigation, said: "This was a terrifying experience for the young woman involved who was targeted while walking home from a night out.
"Her bravery and support for the investigation means Isaac Mabwa is no longer a risk to other women, and while today is not a day to celebrate, I hope the sentence allows her some closure.
"I recognise that details of this awful crime will cause fear among the community, particularly women, and I would like to reassure you that the Met is doing everything it can to make the streets of London safer for everyone."
Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
November 30, 2021
