‘Elderly Muslim woman’ robbed taxi driver: police

WHEN “Fatima” put a taxi driver in a headlock and robbed him at knifepoint, it appeared she may not have been an elderly Muslim woman.

Yalim is charged with robbery armed with an offensive weapon after the taxi driver assault.

SHE may have been wearing a below-the-knee dress, sensible cardigan and a spotted scarf that covered her face, but when “Fatima” put a taxi driver in a headlock and robbed him at knifepoint, it appeared she may not have been an elderly Muslim woman.

Now police allege “Fatima” was actually Brighton-Le-Sands man Kemal Yalim, 24, who has been charged with robbing the cab driver at knifepoint.

Police allege in court documents he disguised himself, including using a white two-wheeled bingo hall-style grocery trolley, and booked a taxi under the name “Fatima”.

He then allegedly waited at a Coogee housing commission block at 6.35am on April 16 and asked to be taken to Eastgardens shopping centre.

The driver would later tell police that when he asked if the passenger was the Fatima who booked the cab, the response “sounded like a female”, but could have been a male putting on a female’s voice.

When the cab arrived at the shopping centre on Wentworth Ave, “Fatima” grabbed the driver around the neck and cut his torso with a knife.

According to court documents, Jesse Ruth Moore, 33, had been waiting for the cab to arrive and screamed at the driver: “Give me money, give me money”. The pair allegedly stole $30. Moore was arrested two days later after her fingerprints were allegedly found in the cab. Yalim was arrested on May 31, with police finding information in his phone allegedly linking him to the robbery.

When contacted, Yalim’s lawyer Stephen Alexander said his client ­intended to fight the charges.

“Identity and gender will be an issue in this case,” Mr Alexander said.

Yalim is charged with robbery armed with an offensive weapon. Moore is charged with robbery in company and breaching her bail conditions. Both have been refused bail to appear in court on December 12.

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