Taxi driver who had sexual activity with woman with mental disorder disappears before jail sentencingAN ALCESTER taxi driver facing jail for engaging in sexual activities with a woman with a mental disorder disappeared from his home before he was due in court yesterday (Monday).
Ernest Grainger, aged 62, of Alne Bank Road, Alcester, had previously pleaded guilty to indulging in two sexual acts in September 2012 with a young woman in her 20s whose free choice is impeded.
Known by his middle name John, Grainger was working as a taxi driver at the time and met the woman when he had picked her up as a fare.
Ernest John Grainger missed his sentencing hearing.
Due to be given a lengthy jail sentence on Monday, he disappeared from his home in the middle of the night and failed to turn up to court.
However, police launched a search using officers, sniffer dogs, and the force helicopter. They found him in Worcestershire this morning (Tuesday).
On Monday Judge Alan Parker said: “I understand Mrs Grainger has attended to indicate he was at home last night, and was at home until something like five o’clock this morning.”
That was the time his wife heard him getting up, but did not think anything of it until she got up later to find he was not in the house.
Grainger had left, leaving behind his mobile phone and even his hearing aid. Judge Parker said: “It can’t be a case of him being delayed en-route.”
Noting that Grainger still had no-one to represent him, Judge Parker said: “A long custodial sentence remains inevitable, but the length of it is a matter for argument.
“If he had attended unrepresented I would not have dealt with him, but would have remanded him in custody and adjourned the case for representation to be obtained.”
Issuing the warrant for Grainger’s arrest, the Judge said: “It is obvious to me that in the last four or five hours he has sought to evade the jurisdiction of the court.
“It is to be hoped the warrant can be executed quickly and that he can be brought before the court.”
But Judge Parker stressed: “If he is brought before me at short notice I would not sentence him because it would mean he would be unrepresented and, of equal importance, it would prevent the victim and her family having the opportunity to attend.”
Therefore, he said, when Grainger is found, he intends to remand him in custody and adjourn the case to a later date to enable the victim and her relatives to attend the hearing if they wish to do so.
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