The lawyer for a taxi driver who sexually assaulted a young woman in his cab has told a court the attack would not have happened if the woman had sat in the back seat.

Taxi driver Omar Ibrahim Hassan, 42, was on Wednesday spared time in jail after a magistrate voiced concerns over the long delay between the attacks and charges being laid.

Omar Hassan is currently suspended from driving a taxi and unlikely to do so again. Credit:Nicole Emanuel

Hassan had been driving the woman, then 20, home from a Ringwood nightclub in the early hours of November 3, 2013.

In February, Magistrate Andrew Capell found Hassan guilty following a contested hearing. On Wednesday, Mr Capell handed down a six-month jail term, wholly suspended for 18 months.