Stockton taxi driver facing jail for raping female passengerA taxi driver who pulled a knife on a female passenger then raped her in his minicab is behind bars awaiting a long prison sentence today.
Married dad-of-four Khalile Maqsood, 31, was convicted of rape at Teesside Crown Court.
A jury delivered its unanimous verdict after less than two hours’ consideration yesterday afternoon.
Maqsood, whose wife was pregnant at the time of the sex attack, lost his freedom as a judge denied him bail and remanded him in custody.
Recorder Rodney Jameson QC warned him: “You must understand a substantial prison sentence is inevitable.”
Maqsood, of Brookfield Road, Stockton, denied raping the young woman in his taxi in Billingham in the early hours of September 10 last year.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, initially thought his white cab was a “lifesaver” as she walked to a party, jurors heard.
She said Maqsood, who was traced to Royal Cars in Stockton, pulled up and offered her a lift.
She got in but Maqsood took a series of wrong turns then stopped in a car park and turned off the engine.
She said he asked for a kiss and cuddle, which she refused, then he took her phone from her as it rang.
When she tried to take it back, he said, “If you don’t do as I say, I’ll stab you.”
She saw he had a penknife.
He told her to get into the back of the cab, where he raped her.
He said he’d give her phone back once it was over.
He returned her phone and pushed her out of the taxi.
She typed most of his car registration number into the phone, found a friend and told him she’d been raped.
The court was told Maqsood lied to police and denied picking up any woman in his taxi.
Faced with DNA findings, he admitted he had sex with the woman but said it was consensual and initiated by her.
He told the jury she flagged down his cab, ran over and jumped in, and he thought she was “really up for it”.
He claimed she made suggestive comments and stroked his leg. He said they looked for a place to “have a good time”.
“I’m only human at the end of the day. She’d come on to me. I made a mistake,” he added.
“I just gave in to temptation. She led me on. She consented to it. That’s what she wanted.”
He denied threatening her with a knife.
Acting Detective Sergeant Stuart Hodgson today welcomed the conviction and remand into custody.
He said: “We thank the complainant and her family for their strength and support throughout a difficult time.”
Nigel Weepers, managing director of Royal Cars, said: “The driver involved was actually self-employed operating under our banner.
“That said we are absolutely appalled that this could have happened.
“We have assisted the police with their inquiries all the way along. This is an isolated incident
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