LONDON (TIP): A 24-year-old Indian-origin taxi driver, who is also a bhangra singer, has been jailed for nine months for a sex attack on a passenger in the English town of Nottingham. Dhanraj Singh was taking a young woman home when he kissed and touched her. Singh was told he breached his passenger’s trust because she was in his care and had been drinking.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Singh was a bhangra singer and was due to fly to Mumbai to film a music video after topping the Asian music charts. But instead, the father-of-two was sent to prison for nine months on Tuesday after being found guilty earlier this month of sexual assault. “You are a talented, award-winning musician. You have put all of that in jeopardy. You were responsible for her safety and well-being. You took advantage of a lone female passenger who had been drinking,” Judge Gregory Dickinson said in his ruling. The judge said the effect on the victim had been “very serious” and the court was told that the woman had made a statement saying she was “still raw” and was having ongoing counselling.

She had lost weight as a result of the attack on April 1, which had also affected her studies and left her feeling “vulnerable”, the local ‘Nottingham Post’ daily reported. Defence lawyer Mark Achurch told the court: “He is a family man with two children who had been working anti-social hours to support his family. “It was a short-lived incident. He lost his taxi driver’s licence immediately and has been out of work and on benefits since.” The case comes less than two weeks after another Nottingham taxi driver was jailed for sexually assaulting a 17- year-old girl in the back of his cab. Jamil Ahmed, chairman of Nottingham Licensed Taxi Owners’ and Drivers’ Association, said steps were being taken to keep passengers safe.