Here are some random reports of rape cases from days gone by regarding references to either bogus Taxi drivers, Taxi drivers and Private hire drivers. Nothing is implied but I would be grateful if anyone can provide details of any incomplete case? One or two articles might refer to the same incident so please be aware of this. Some of the accusations proved to be unfounded and these should be noted.
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Bolton rape
http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2 ... 82135.html
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The Independent (London)
June 2, 1998, Tuesday
HEADLINE: Court told of girl's taxi rape
A SCHOOLGIRL who ran away from home to seek out her pop idol, Brian Harvey, was repeatedly raped by a taxi driver she trusted, an Old Bailey court heard today.
After her alleged ordeal, she still went to the East 17 singer's home, rang his doorbell and shouted that she was cold and wanted some blankets, but he told her to clear off, the court heard. The 13-year-old left her home in the Southampton area on 23 March last year.
"She found herself at Charing Cross. She was hungry and broke. A taxi driver asked if she was alone and agreed to give her a lift. She thought she could trust him - a driver in a black cab," said Sasha Wass, prosecuting. "She was wrong. She spent several hours in the cab, during which he raped her three times and buggered her once," Miss Wass alleged.
Peter Goddard, 40, from Benfleet, Essex has denied raping the teenager.
The teenager, now 15, said that after picking her up at Charing Cross, the defendant bought her something to eat, then stopped the car, got in the back and allegedly raped her.
"The doors were locked," she said. "He pulled my tights off and pushed me down on the back seat. He pulled my skirt up and started to have sex with me." The girl said she then caught a train to Loughton where Harvey lived.
"When I got there I started ringing on the doorbell. He stuck his head out of the window and asked me what I wanted. I said I was cold and could I have some blankets. He said he didn't have any and a security man came and told me to go. So I did." The case was adjourned until today.
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The outcome of the trial can be read below. JD
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A TAXI driver was given a conditional discharge for indecently assaulting a 13-year-old girl who had run away from home to see her pop idol Brian Harvey.
Peter Goddard (40), from Benfleet, Essex, was cleared earlier this month of raping the teenager four times during her escapade.
But he had admitted indecently assaulting her. He told the Old Bailey court he had no idea she was only 13 when she offered him sex for pounds 20. "I just desperately wished she had told me. If she had said that I would never have had anything to do with her from the start," said Goddard, who is married. Goddard had picked up the teenager at Charing Cross in his black cab. Afterwards he took her to Waterloo. She then went to Loughton, Essex, where East 17 star Brian Harvey lived - and rang on his doorbell early in the morning, asking for blankets. But the singer, who said she did not look distressed in any way, turned her away.
The defence said she made up the stories of rape in order to attract Harvey's attention and persuade him to meet her. Three days later she wrote to the singer, the court had heard. Judge Richard Lowry said that it was an exceptional case. "This was an isolated incident. The girl's appearance and behaviour led you to believe she was 18 or 19. "She solicited you, offering sex for money," he told Goddard, as he conditionally discharged him for 12 months. But the judge added that the law stated a mature man must ensure that he did not behave indecently with a young girl. If a man's employment brought him into contact with many members of the public, it was especially important he observed the law, the judge said.
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December 19, 1995, Tuesday
HEADLINE: Taxi rape.
A hunt for a maroon and black traditional London taxi cab was launched by police seeking a rapist who attacked a 23-year-old woman who was picked up in the Mall, close to Buckingham Palace in London. The taxi trade disclosed that there were nearly 2,000 traditional cabs on the city' streets which were used as private vehicles, some illegally touting for trade. Police said the rape victim could have got into a rogue vehicle.
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EVENING CHRONICLE (Newcastle, UK)
January 25, 2006,
HEADLINE: Taxi rape claim
BYLINE: By Garry Willey, The Evening Chronicle
A passenger allegedly raped by a taxi driver in his cab has denied telling him she was lonely and wanted sex. The woman claims Shiraj Miah reclined her seat, climbed on top of her and raped her after stopping a few doors from her friend's home in a back lane.
She told Newcastle Crown Court she had been "too shocked" to scream or shout for help. And she denied having consensual sex with Miah in her own home.
The cabbie's barrister, Kathryn Dunn, cross examining, said: "What I'm going to suggest to you is that you never had sex with the driver in the taxi at all. "You were lonely, you were drunk and the reason you went home that night was to invite him in and you had sex with him."
But the woman only three foot one inch tall said she had been raped. And although she accepted drink had affected her memory of the night, she could still recall what happened to her in Miah's cab.
"He leaned over, fiddled with the chair, moved it back and the next thing he was on top of me," the woman told the court. "My mind went blank. I didn't scream. I got a shock."
And asked during police interviews how the alleged attack had made her feel, she said: "I felt dirty." Miah, of Clifton Avenue, Benwell, was arrested 16 days later.
The 35-year-old at first told officers he had never even collected the woman from outside Newcastle's Gate complex, where she had been for a night out with friends.
When his DNA was matched to swabs taken from her, he changed his account and claimed they had consensual sex after she asked him into her home.
He said he had forgotten about the encounter because he was under pressure.
The trial continues.
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Nottingham Evening Post
July 28, 2005
HEADLINE: Man denies 'taxi' rape
BYLINE: D. AVID MARLEY
A Man accused of raping a nurse - who said she got in his car thinking it was a taxi - has told a court he is innocent. Paul Morrison, 34, had two friends in his car when he picked the woman up at 2am in the city centre, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
Morrison said the woman, in her 20s, had agreed to go for a drive and drink with him. He is accused of later taking the alleged victim back to his home, in Brandreth Road, St Ann's, and raping her. Appearing at court yesterday, Morrison denied having intercourse with the woman but said that she performed a sex act on him.
He told the court that they had slept in the same bed and that she had accepted a lift home from him the following morning. On the journey to her house, Morrison said he had given the woman his name and mobile phone number and asked her to call him.
Anna Soubry, defending, said: "The last thing that anyone would do if they had raped someone would be to give them those details. "He did that because he did not do anything wrong." Miss Soubry told the jury that the victim had admitted to being drunk at the time of the alleged attack in April 2004.
"The crown is asking you to convict on the evidence of a woman who says she remembers so little," she said. However, the court also heard that Morrison has a previous conviction for rape from 1989. The court was told that Morrison had served a custodial sentence in a young offenders' institute but that he still denied he was guilty.
Julie Warburton, prosecuting, questioned Morrison about an incident three months before the alleged rape when he had been stopped by police and accused of falsely using his car as a taxi. On that occasion Morrison had four men in his car who told the police they believed Morrison to be a taxi driver.
Morrison denied this had been the case, saying he had been bullied by the men into giving them a lift home. Ms Warburton also confronted Morrison on contradictions in the evidence he gave in court compared with the statement he gave police after his arrest.
Morrison admitted there were inconsistencies, but said he had been stressed at the time of the police interviews.
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The Star (Sheffield)
June 10, 2006
HEADLINE: 'Taxi rape' threat for young women abroad
THE mother of a Sheffield teenager raped by a taxi driver on a Greek island has issued a warning to young women holidaying abroad.
Her daughter's ordeal occurred last July when she was with friends on a trip to the resort of Malia, in Crete. The 17-year-old left a nightclub early and took a taxi rather walk back to her apartment because she felt it would be "safer" than walking along the street, where she feared she could be harassed by drunken men.
But the taxi driver took her away from the main route and raped her in an olive grove. She was left needing counselling sessions, along with tests for HIV and hepatitis. Now her mum, who cannot be named to protect her daughter's identity, is advising other young women not to use taxis alone.
"At first he said it was a short cut but she became alarmed and tried to get out. He stopped the vehicle but when she climbed out he chased her and overpowered her," she said. Her daughter was taken to an olive grove and raped.
"It was quite a violent rape and she was worried that if she struggled he would hurt her," the mum said. When the driver left the scene, the teenager made her way back to the centre of the resort and flagged down passing traffic for help. Another taxi driver stopped and she was taken to hospital.
Her mum said: "Unfortun-ately the man who raped my daughter has never been caught. He was reported to the police but they don't seem to care. "If it had been a local girl who had been attacked, the attitude of the authorities might have been different but this man is still out there and Malia is a popular resort with young people. "However, this sort of thing can happen elsewhere, too. Young women should not get into taxis on their own."
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Blackpool Gazette
May 26, 2005
HEADLINE: 'Taxi' rape: charge 6 years on
SOURCE: Blackpool Gazette
A SIX-year police hunt today resulted in a man appearing in court charged with raping a St Annes woman.
Mark Lucas of Chepstow Road, Grange Park, Blackpool, was arrested by detectives investigating the alleged attack which happened in February 1999.
Officers today confirmed advances in forensic techniques had helped them in their search.
Lucas, 42, was charged and will appear before Blackpool magistrates today.
A massive police investigation was launched after a 28-year-old woman said she was raped after getting into a vehicle which she believed was a taxi after leaving Rumours nightclub in Talbot Square, Blackpool.
As part of the investigation which followed more than 400 taxi drivers - who were working on the night of the alleged attack - were tested as part of a major DNA screening operation.
A police spokesman today confirmed: "The victim maintained she had believed she had boarded a taxi. One aspect of the investigation was to establish and interview all taxi drivers working in Blackpool and Fylde on that evening.
"This was achieved with the considerable assistance and willingness of the Blackpool and Fylde taxi agencies. A DNA profile of the offender was obtained at the forensic science laboratory and a great many voluntary samples were given. "The offender was never traced and believed not to be a taxi driver.
"Following recent advances and discoveries by forensic laboratories in collaboration with the police, a man has been arrested and charged with the offence.
"This is a case that has never been closed and over the years many follow-up inquiries have been conducted. "This is a significant breakthrough and it will now be for the justice system to proceed through to trial." The incident happened after the woman left Rumours on Saturday February 20, 1999.
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The Sun
April 30, 2005
HEADLINE: 'TAXI' RAPE MONSTER IS JAILED 8YRS
A SEX beast who raped a teenage girl who got into a car thinking it was a taxi was yesterday jailed for eight years.
The 19-year-old victim flagged down the motor after a night out in Glasgow city centre. But evil David Peddie, 32, and an accomplice raped her in the back of the car as she tried to escape in June 2001.
Peddie, of Saltmarket, Glasgow, was caught with the help of DNA evidence and was convicted earlier. He appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh to be sentenced.
Judge Lord Brodie said: "In my judgement this is a more serious case of rape than some others and I intend to reflect that in the sentence imposed."
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The Sun
January 11, 2005
HEADLINE: 12YRS FOR TAXI RAPE MONSTER
A MAN who raped a young woman who was trying to get a taxi home was jailed for 12 years yesterday.
Steven Firth dragged her inside his car, drove off - then pulled up ten minutes later to attack her.
Firth, 32, forced her back into the car and offered a sickening "apology" before dropping her off in Manchester.
A jury convicted him at the city's crown court after DNA evidence linked him to the crime. He was put on the sex offenders' register for life.
His courageous victim, 24, said after the case: "My life will never be the same but I refuse to let this man take control over everything I do. I am looking to the future and starting to build a new life.
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Nottingham Evening Post
August 15, 2003
SECTION: News; Courts; CrownCourt; Pg. 1
HEADLINE: WOMAN'S TAXI RAPE HELL
Merbhian Ali is the sixth licensed taxi driver in Notts to be convicted of a sexual offence on a woman passenger in only three years. Nottingham Crown Court heard Ali's victim was raped after he picked her up in the Old Market Square, Nottingham.
He took her to a secluded spot off the A614, near the Redhill roundabout, and attacked her. She was found crying in the road by a lorry driver. Eight weeks after the attack, the woman discovered she was pregnant.
The 24-year-old, who used to live in Nottingham, said: "Being raped was devastating enough and then I discovered I was carrying his child.
"I got into that taxi because I thought it was safe. He betrayed that trust." Ali was found guilty after a four-day trial. When he was jailed the woman said: "I am delighted at this sentence." Ali, 35, of Westdale Lane, Carlton, was put on the sex offenders' register for life. Judge Christopher Metcalf said: "The distress of the victim in this case was clear for everyone to see. The impact it has had on her has been devastating." Detective Constable Emma Neal said: "This man totally betrayed his position of trust."
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Sunday Mail
December 8, 2002
HEADLINE: HE STRIPPED TERRIFIED GIRL IN 5-HOUR TAXI RAPE BID
SEX attacker Mick Murray was sentenced to seven years in prison after he kidnapped a teenage girl while posing as a taxi driver and attempted to rape her.
The fat pervert picked up two teenagers in his car after they had left a dance hall in Glasgow. Murray's vehicle had a taxi sign which was attached to the roof with a piece of rope.
As he pretended to drive the girls home, he stalled his car and asked one of the teenagers to get out and give him a push. Once she had left the vehicle, Murray drove off with the other girl and held her captive for five hours.
The fiend, a father himself, threatened to kill the terrified 17-year- old as he forced her to strip twice and tried to rape her. Murray, who was sent to Peterhead Prison after his vile assault, then dumped his victim on a motorway and gave her pounds 1 to get a real taxi home.
She staggered into Glasgow's Royal Infirmary and raised the alarm.
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Liverpool Echo
May 28, 2002, Tuesday
HEADLINE: WOMAN TELLS OF TAXI RAPE; PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER DENIES CHARGE, CROWN COURT TOLD
BYLINE: Rob Brady
A WOMAN wept today as she told a court that she was raped by a taxi driver. The 18-year-old said he climbed into the back of the private hire car and forced himself on her.
Harold Sidney Brooks, 43, of Butleigh Road, Huyton, denied the rape charge at Liverpool crown court today. But the prosecution say he did admit having sex with her, regarding it as a "perk of the job."
The woman, 17 at the time, told the court she had rung a private hire firm at 2am after visiting bars with friends in Liverpool city centre in December. She was picked up in Dale Street by the car driven by Brooks and asked to be taken home.
She said that on Picton Road, Wavertree, he pulled up with the passenger side of the vehicle against a wall so she could not get out and then got into the back.
The teenager told the court: "He started to put his hand down my top. I tried to get him away but he was too big. He started to move my jeans down to my ankles. I just wanted to get him off me. I told him I was a lesbian. "I was just frozen I didn't know what to do. It felt like ages but it was seconds or minutes."
The jury was then told he drove her to Woolton golf course but no further acts took place.
She said Brooks agreed to drive her home.
The teenager said she realised she had left her mobile phone in the taxi and rang the firm. She said that when Brooks brought it back to her she told him she was going to the police. He was arrested the next day.
Prosecuting, David Kerr said: "Police recovered from the taxi office a recording between the drivers and the office. Although during the course of conversations with pals at work he did not admit to raping the girl, he said that he had intercourse with her.
"The Crown says he just regarded this as a perk of the job."
(Proceeding)
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Daily Record
July 18, 2001, Wednesday
HEADLINE: TAXI RAPE WOMAN BREAKS DOWN IN COURT
A WOMAN sobbed in court yesterday as she told how she was abducted in a bogus taxi and raped.
Giving evidence on the first day of the trial of 29-year-old John Smith, the woman, 26, said: "It had a light on. I presumed it was stopping for me. I got in." She said she told the driver her address and when he pulled away, she claimed he said: "You stupid b**** - you thought I was a taxi."
The High Court in Inverness heard she was picked up as she walked home in Aberdeen along Holburn Street on July 19, 1998.
It is alleged Smith threatened to kill the woman before driving her to a lane near Salisbury Terrace and Gray Street in the city, pulling her out of the car and raping her.Smith, of Findhorn Place, Aberdeen, pleads not guilty to abduction and rape.
The court was told the driver took a right turn off the route the woman expected to be travelling on. She said: "I don't know if I said anything apart from 'please let me get out.'" "He was driving for what seemed like forever but it was only a few minutes. "He was carrying on threatening me, all the time I remember thinking he was mental." He then is said to have stopped the car in a lane before pulling the woman out of the vehicle.
She told the court: "He opened the door and grabbed hold of my wrists and pulled me out of the car. "I know I was crying. I said, 'Please just leave me alone.'" The woman said he then pushed her to the ground and raped her before driving away.
The trial continues.
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March 13, 2001
HEADLINE: Risks in allowing taxi 'pirates' to ply for hire
DATELINE: Bolton
I HAVE to respond to the letter you printed which was sent in by Peter Brown, under the heading 'lockable taxis also have their dangers'.
Pete, (I will call him that as he has been a very good friend for many years) accuses our very hard working Secretary, Charles Oakes, of being biased and blinkered.
Pete, my good friend, unless you have been reading differently to what has been published in the BEN, then I am afraid it is you who has the blinkers on. No one has accused you or your private hire colleagues of putting women at risk of rape or worse
You know full well that all drivers, hackney or private hire, are fully vetted by the licensing authorities, and are regularly checked out for having police records. If a women or anyone was at any risk, then our licences would be revoked.
What we, the hackney carriage drivers want to eliminate, is the constant 'pirating' or illegal touting of business which occurs on a regular basis outside the nightclubs of Bolton by a very small, but very hardcore percentage of private hire drivers.
By allowing these 'pirates' to continue illegally plying for hire, opens up the risk of 'bogus drivers' touting for business, which recently happened in the Manchester 'taxi rape'.
Regarding the central locking systems on hackney cabs, I think you will find they are installed to eliminate the risk of children opening the doors while the vehicle is in motion, and also to prevent people from running off without paying their fare, which I am sure has happened to every driver over the years.
Pete also accuses Charles Oakes of saying private hire drivers charge extortionate fares. Wrong again Pete. He accuses the illegal 'pirates' of overcharging; once again Charles is correct.
Yes, the penalties are severe, but how can the licensing authorities reprimand a driver for overcharging if the firm he drives for has no record of the booking he has illegally picked up?
Pete also stated that private hire drivers had lost the sympathy of hackney carriage drivers because of their decision to block traffic in Bolton Town Centre. Once again, very, very wrong.
Our sympathy was lost when black cabs got stoned (one passenger ended up in hospital), and several cabs were badly damaged, and certain private hire firms were threatened that their offices would be burned down if they refused to strike.
The unfortunate driver and his family have all our sympathy and full support.
Keith Southern
Harrowby Court
Farnworth
Bolton
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February 17, 2001, Saturday
HEADLINE: SERIAL SEX ATTACKER ALERT AFTER TAXI RAPES
A SERIAL sex attacker may be on the loose after two women were raped and three assaulted by a man posing as a taxi driver, police said.
Detectives in Manchester have issued a warning to women after the attacks in the city centre.
Police believe the same man could be responsible for the rapes and assaults over the last two-and-a-half months.
Detective Inspector Darren Shenton said the attacks had all happened after midnight at the weekend when the man pulled over and picked up lone women while posing as a private hire taxi driver.
The officer warned that private hire cars were not allowed to do this and he urged women not to get into any vehicle which stopped for them in this manner.
'It seems the attacks happen when the city centre is busy and people have enjoyed the entertainment. They are making their way home and may be lured into thinking that taxis are allowed to pull over in this way', Mr Shenton said.
He advised women to only use black cabs but otherwise check private hire cabs had an illuminated sign, a radio system and license plates displayed front and rear before getting in.
'We have serious concerns about the upsurge of these attacks in recent months and ask all women to be very careful.' Mr Shenton said.
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Birmingham Evening Mail
November 3, 2000, Friday
HEADLINE: ATTACK DRIVER JAILED; TAXI RAPE BID ON STUDENT
BYLINE: Jane Tyler
A PRIVATE hire driver has been jailed for five years at Birmingham crown court for a sex attack on a woman passenger.
Gulnawaz Hussain, (24), picked up the student outside a nightclub in Broad Street and drove her to a car park in Handsworth where he tried to force her to have sex.
Hussain, of Banford Road, Ward End, who worked for Embassy Cars at the time, pleaded guilty to attempted rape.
John Edwards, prosecuting, said the 19-year-old University of Central England student had been to Stoodi Bakers nightclub with her friends one night in February.
Although Hussain was not licensed to pick up fares in the street, the student asked him to take her to her halls of residence in Handsworth Wood, Mr Edwards said. During the journey the pair flirted and Hussain stroked her leg and groin, he said.
'But she was relaxed by drink and her guard was down and she was not overly concerned and told him he was really cheeky,' Mr Edwards added. Hussain then pulled into the Kwik Save car park in Holyhead Road where he tried to have intercourse with her after making threats but failed. The woman escaped from his car and ran to a nearby petrol station and called police.
Mr Edwards said Hussain was arrested five days later when his vehicle was identified by studying closed circuit TV cameras in Broad Street.
Chris Morris, defending, said : 'Although the woman did not want any of his sexual overtures Hussain believed she may have been compliant and acquiescent and his lust overcame him.' He said his client had now 'lost all his future prospects' and was separated from his wife.
Judge David Matthews, sentencing Hussain, told him: 'Taxi drivers are in a position of great responsibility and have to be trusted by those who they carry around this city.
'You abused your trust in the most appalling way by attempting to rape her.'
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Western Daily Press
January 14, 1998
HEADLINE: Student in 'taxi rape ordeal'
TAXI driver Yasir Hussain held a knife to a university student's throat before raping her, a court has heard.
The 21-year-old student told how Hussain threatened her at knifepoint in his Toyota saloon and demanded she have sex with him.
She told Bristol Crown court that she was taken to The Downs and raped in the passenger seat of the car in the early hours of December 4, 1996.
The student, who broke down in tears while giving evidence, said: "I remember thinking it was not safe to be alone and getting into a taxi to go back to Clifton. "Then I remember thinking we're going the wrong way and he then held a knife to my throat and said if I didn't have sex with him he would kill me."
Hussain, of City Road, St Paul's, Bristol, who worked for his cousin's mini -cab firm, AA Taxis, denies raping the woman. Ian Glenn QC, prosecuting, said Hussain fled the country for his native Pakistan two days after the alleged incident.
The trial continues.
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From 1992.
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February 21, 1992.
HEADLINE: Police drop taxi rape claim case
POLICE have dropped inquiries into a 25-year-old woman's claim that she was raped at gunpoint by a black man driving a London taxi.
The woman said she took a black cab from Leicester Square to Southgate last Friday. She claimed that at Wood Green the driver pulled up, got into the back, produced a revolver and raped her. It was then alleged she was driven for a further 10 minutes and raped again.
After forensic tests, police say they are 'no longer pursuing the investigation'.
The decision will bring relief to London's 22,000 black cab drivers after the alleged rape of a 22-year-old woman passenger in a black cab in Kensington on Monday scared women customers who had previously thought black cabs were safe.
A man has been charged with the Kensington attack. He appeared in court and has been remanded in custody.
Police are still investigating a 27-year-old woman's claim that she was sexually assaulted in Highgate on 5 February after hailing a cab from the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge.
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Evening Standard (London)
February 19, 1992, Wednesday
Calling all cabbies
BYLINE: Nigella Lawson
THERE are certain things black-cab drivers will always tell you - that they could run the country, that private cars should not be allowed into town in the daytime, and that minicabs are driven by unlicensed drivers who are not to be trusted (they won't be able to get you where you want to go and they could be murderers or rapists).
Cabbies' lore has never been taken all that seriously, except on that last point. Most women who need to travel alone, especially at night, feel they will be safe in a black cab. The recent spate of 'taxi rapes' shows this to be far from the case.
Now I know that cabbies are having a bad time in the recession and that a job lot of cabs was recently auctioned off, but also in order to supplement their incomes some cabbies are hiring out their vehicles without regard to who will use them. This is not allowed but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Taxi drivers have shown themselves to be as appalled as the rest of us at these horrible crimes and have vowed to help track down the culprits. But I would plead with them to do more. Cab firms and individual licensees should make sure that no one drives a cab except the person who holds the licence for it.
It is the only way to guarantee that the people who have committed the crimes can be traced. It may mean a loss of revenue, but not as much as if women take the only real precaution they can, and not hail a cab in the first place.
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Evening Standard (London)
February 18, 1992, Tuesday
HEADLINE: Taxi rapes: how to spot a bogus cab
BYLINE: Geoff Garvey,Tom Leonard
TAXI drivers reacted in horror today at the thought that three rapes in London black cabs were carried out by licensed members.
The rapists, who have struck over the past 12 days, are still at large and the leader of one of London's largest taxi organisations, the Joint Radio Taxi Cab Association, said: 'We find it difficult to believe these attacks were the work of licensed drivers.'
The latest attack occurred yesterday morning when a 22-year-old student was raped twice in the back of a taxi while on a short journey from Cavendish Square, off Oxford Street, to Earl's Court.
Last Friday, a 25-year-old woman was raped twice after hailing a taxi in Leicester Square to take her home to Southgate. And on 5 February, a 27-year-old woman was attacked in Highgate Road, Camden, after taking a cab from the Sheraton Park Hotel in Knightsbridge.
From the descriptions given by the victims, all the attacks were carried out by different men. Taxi drivers' leaders advise women to follow these precautions to make sure the cabs are genuine:
* Check for the black and white Public Carriage Office plate which shows the cabbie's personal licence number; one plate is on the boot and another inside, between the rear-facing passenger seats
* Make sure the driver has an official badge, which he is legally obliged to wear. It is oval shaped, either green or yellow, and emblazoned with the words 'Hackney Carriage Driver' and the cabbie's personal number
* Check for a meter, to the left of the driver, which should be switched on
* Although it is not compulsory, some drivers have started displaying their licence, a card showing their name and photograph, in the front windscreen
* If the cab's bodywork is dirty and dented, it is likely to be a rogue
* Passengers should insist the driver opens the window and speaks face-to-face before getting into the cab. This gives more time to check for details such as licence, badge and meter.
'There are criminals out there on the road who are trying to ply their own trade in a rogue cab,' said Harry Feigen, secretary general of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association.
'Proper cab drivers are investigated by the police before they get a licence. If they are found to have a criminal record, they'll never get on to the road.
'Strictly speaking, it is not legal to display a cab licence openly in the cab, but in the circumstances we do not think anyone is going to take exception to something which is designed to reassure the public.'
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The Guardian (London)
February 18, 1992
HEADLINE: CABBIES AID TAXI RAPE HUNT
BYLINE: JOHN MULLIN
POLICE in London last night appealed to the city's 21,000 licensed cab drivers for help in solving two rapes and an attempted rape over the past fortnight on women who were being driven home in taxis.
Scotland Yard is not linking the three attacks, but detectives said yesterday they fear copycat crimes. They have an open mind on whether the attackers are genuine or bogus drivers.
Black cab drivers pride themselves on their safety record compared with unlicensed mini-cabs, and drivers admit they are shaken by this month's attacks. Harry Feigen, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association, said yesterday: "Never in my 43 years in the trade have I experienced anything like this.
"It's hard to take, but we will be doing what we can to help police stamp this out."
One theory suggests the assailants may be thieves who stole around 20 of the 150 black cabs auctioned last week after an East End firm went into receivership.
The latest victim is a 22-year-old woman who was raped in Kensington, west London, after hailing a cab at about 2.30am yesterday. Her assailant climbed into the back with her after driving for 10 minutes. The man, white and in his mid 20s used no weapon. In an attack on Valentine's night in Wood Green, north London, a 25-year-old woman who hailed her cab in Leicester Square was twice raped by the black driver, in his 30s, at gunpoint before passers-by scared him away.
This driver had a Metrocab, of which there are only 2,500 out of 16,500 cabs. Fewer than 500 of the 21,000 drivers whose photographs are at Scotland Yard's Public Licensing Office are thought to be black.
The first attack was an attempted rape two weeks ago in Highgate, north London.
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