A FAKE cabbie who sexually assaulted a woman he picked up in the town centre after pretending to be her taxi has been jailed for four years.

Ibrahim Gediklioglu was cruising round at night looking for drunk female revellers to pick up so he could 'chance his arm' with them because his marriage was failing.

The 26-year-old kebab van worker, who has a conviction for exposing himself to a child, even had his own taxi sign to put on his car as he prowled the streets.

Now a judge has ruled he presents a risk to women and must serve two thirds of the jail term before he can apply for parole. He will be on licence for another two years.

Gediklioglu will also be subject to a sexual harm prevention order, meaning he must inform the police of any car he is driving and cannot give rides to women he does not know.

Tom Wilkins, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court two women had been for a night out on Friday, September 29, and booked a cab home in the early hours of the following morning.

After going to the taxi rank outside the Jury's Inn in the early hours and after giving a couple of drivers their name Gediklioglu told them he was there for them.

As they set off to a village to the east of town the women asked if they could stop at McDonald's drive thru to get some food to take home.

On the journey the driver twice put his hand on the victim's knee as she sat in the front seat and she told him to leave her alone.

As they were waiting for their food he got out of the cab to take a call from his wife and when the girl in the back had a panic attack about being locked in, he opened the door for her.

When he got back in the doors again locked and he put his hand up the dress of the now lone female and put his fingers inside her knickers.

As she tried to get away he grabbed her thigh, leaving a bruise, carrying on the assault which lasted for about a minute.

Alerted by her pal, staff from the restaurant came out and after the victim got out of the car Gediklioglu drove away, but his number plate was picked up on CCTV.

Mr Wilkins said when he was arrested two days later another woman's ID was found his car and she told how the following night she had been given a lift by him.

Without knowing what the police were investigating she said the car had a taxi sign but she got out half way home as the driver was openly watching porn on his phone.

Gediklioglu, of Woollaton Close, Grange Park, pleaded guilty to sexual assault. He denied kidnap and that was left to lie on the file.

Jeremy Lynn, defending, said his client, who has a child, had been going through problems with his wife at the time.

"It is a case of someone who was in the habit of chancing his arm with young women who, no doubt he had correctly identified as coming out of nightclubs at 3am in the morning and who, no doubt to his untutored mind, were more open to the advances of a stranger. He was hoping to get lucky," he said.

He told the court that it wasn't a case where his client had driven the women off to a remote spot or continued to a more serious offence.

Passing sentence Judge Robert Pawson said: "Overall it seems to me that this was a sinister offence.

"She was absolutely terrified as is clear from the evidence of others when she eventually managed to get out of the car.

"What you did that night was to take two women from a taxi rank by deception. That is the dictionary definition of abduction. There was low level violence, it was enough, your hand grip, to bruise her thigh.

"I have no doubt, given your behaviour the next night, that you planned this behaviour.

"On release, at the moment, your risk is assessed as immediate: part of a pattern of sexualised behaviour.

"The pre-sentence report says there is a serious risk of sexual harm to female members of the public by engaging in predatory behaviour. coaxing women in to your car."

Gediklioglu was found not guilty by a jury in 2015 of trying to snatch a woman from the street in Old Town as he cruised round in the middle of the night.

Det Cons Chris Hughes said: “Gediklioglu committed an extremely sinister offence – in my eyes he identified these women as being vulnerable because they had no doubt consumed alcohol during a night out.

“The pair were looking to get home and had booked a taxi. When they saw Gediklioglu’s vehicle near the taxi rank they questioned whether he was their driver.

“He deceived them and then acted in a way which caused them concern and panic before sexually assaulting one of the women.

“I have no doubt that his victim would have felt extremely frightened and his actions will have had a long-lasting impact on her life.

“We take reports of this nature extremely seriously and I am pleased that the court recognised he posed a serious risk of sexual harm to women – I welcome the custodial sentence handed to him.”