Bogus taxi driver who raped woman in Leicester loses appeal over 'sex worker messages'https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news ... d-10736768https://i2-prod.leicestermercury.co.uk/ ... r-shah.jpgZaheer Shah claimed the messages were about fantasies, not proof that he would actually commit such actsA bogus taxi driver who raped a woman in Leicester city centre has lost his appeal against his conviction. Zaheer Shah, 38, had argued that explicit text messages sent to sex workers should not have been shown to the jury at his trial.
Shah, of Evington Drive, Leicester, was jailed for 15 years in March 2024 after he was found guilty of attacking the victim who got into his car believing he was an Uber driver.
The woman had left the Firebug nightclub in Millstone Lane at around 4.30am on Saturday, March 4, 2023, when Shah drove her to a quiet spot near Lee Circle car park, where he assaulted her for over 35 minutes before she managed to escape almost naked onto the road.
Police had recovered 3,064 messages from Shah's phone, including 962 sent to 84 sex workers in the days before the attack. The messages referenced unusual sexual practices and the use of force, with the trial judge ruling they showed Shah's interest in "forceful oral sex with a stranger" and that he had "sexual matters on his mind" that night.
The court heard Shah had been driving around areas frequented by sex workers that night and was captured on CCTV slowing down to speak to two street sex workers.
As nightclubs closed, he drove around looking for lone females. Earlier, he had picked up another woman who needed a lift home and later showed sexual interest in her, but she blocked him on her phone.
After the attack, Shah called someone from the victim's phone claiming he had "found her running around naked" and denied knowing the Firebug nightclub or being from Leicester.
The victim's friends used a tracking app on her phone to locate it, leading police to Shah's home in Evington Drive that morning where officers found it hidden under his pillow.
The victim's clothes were recovered from the boot of Shah's Jaguar and his vomit-stained clothes were found in a bin outside.
Shah's legal team argued the messages related to consensual activity with prostitutes and the victim was not a sex worker, but prosecutors said they were needed to rebut his claim he was just having "me time" as he drove around Leicester.
Lady Justice Whipple, sitting with Mr Justice Cavanagh and His Honour Judge Dennis Watson KC, dismissed the appeal, ruling the jury needed "the full picture" of Shah's thoughts and fantasies.
The Court of Appeal ruled Shah's account was "inherently improbable" and that "the evidence against this appellant was very strong".
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