A sexual predator who posed as a taxi driver kidnapped a vulnerable young woman by dragging her into his car before police swooped to rescue her has been jailed for seven years. Kuldip Chahal, 51, targeted the woman after she became separated from friends following a night out in Newcastle city centre.

The victim, aged in her 20s, had booked a taxi home in the early hours of December 21 last year after leaving a venue in the Groat Market area. As she searched for her driver, Chahal approached her, spoke to her and then physically picked her up from the ground before putting his arm around her.

The court heard he repeatedly directed and guided the intoxicated woman through busy streets for around 10 minutes before taking her to his white Volkswagen Golf parked on Fenkle Street.

Believing he was taking her home, the woman was dragged and forced into the front passenger seat.

But Chahal was unaware he was already under surveillance as part of Operation Salus, a Northumbria Police initiative using plain-clothes officers, uniformed patrols and CCTV operators to identify vulnerable people in the night-time economy.

Officers stopped the vehicle before it could drive away and immediately established the woman did not know Chahal. He was arrested on suspicion of kidnap.

Investigators later discovered Chahal, of Plessey Road, Blyth, was not a licensed taxi driver and had approached several other women in the city centre before targeting the victim.

CCTV footage also captured him picking the woman up from the ground, helping prosecutors build the case against him.

Despite denying kidnap, Chahal was convicted following a week-long trial at Newcastle Crown Court in May.

Returning to the same court on Thursday, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. He will also serve an extended licence period of three years and was made subject to a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said the attack had shattered her "confidence, independence and sense of safety".

She said: "Before this happened, I was a confident and sociable young woman who enjoyed spending time with my friends.

"I never imagined that something so frightening could happen to me whilst simply spending time with friends. What happened that night has changed me."

She added: "I was a young woman trying to get home after a night out with friends.

"Instead, I became the target of a man more than twice my age who saw my vulnerability and chose to exploit it.

"I was not seen as a person. I was seen as an opportunity."

The woman said she had struggled with anxiety and anger since the ordeal, adding she no longer felt like the same person.

Detective Constable Courtney Cran, who led the investigation, praised the victim's courage throughout the case.

She said Chahal had deliberately targeted "a lone, vulnerable young woman" and described him as "a predatory individual" who showed "absolutely no regard" for her welfare.

She added that the case highlighted the importance of Operation Salus, with officers spotting something was wrong and intervening within minutes to safeguard the victim before Chahal could drive away.