A TAXI driver has told how a sexual assault claim made up by a passenger tore his world apart.
Mohammed Asif was arrested and left crying in a police cell after Astria Berwick told officers he had committed a serious sexual assault and attacked her with a knife in his cab.
A voice recording he made of the journey is the only thing that saved him from going on trial.
The CCTV in Mr Asif's cab wasn't working on the day Berwick said he attacked her, but he was using a sound recording 'app' on his mobile phone as a back-up.
Police listened to the tape and realised there had been no assault during the February 20 cab journey.
Mr Asif, 34, of Carlton Hill, spoke after Berwick was jailed.
He said: "She changed my life. I'm completely different now. I'm scared to go out.
"I keep thinking, 'I just dropped her off, she was just a normal passenger, why has she done that?'"
Berwick, 27, of Brendon Grove, Bingham, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court last Thursday (June 27) and was jailed for 16 months after she admitted perverting the course of justice.
Judge Michael Stokes QC, The Recorder of Nottingham, said Berwick called police for "some unaccountable reason" and made up the story.
He said: "This was outrageous behaviour by the defendant against a wholly innocent man who had been saved by the recording on his phone."
Mr Asif said he felt "really lucky" he'd thought to use the phone 'app' on the day and believes that without it he'd now be on remand waiting to face a judge and jury.
After the arrest he could not face working again for a month and lost a stone in weight.
Now back at work, he is still trying to forget the night everything came crashing down for him.
The father-of-two said he was shaking after being released by police and still had problems sleeping.
He added: "If I ever met her again, although I don't want to, I'd just ask 'why?' "
