Cab driver who cut clothing off sleeping female passengers convicted of rape

A cab driver in London who cut the clothes off women in his car and sexually assaulted them has been convicted of rape.

Jahir Hussain, 37, of Tower Hamlets, pleaded guilty to eight charges including two counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault as well as charges of assault by penetration and battery with intent to commit a sexual offence.

He was also charged with fraud by false representation in relation to the case.

The incidents relate to his assaults of three women who were picked up in Shoreditch and sexually assaulted.

His first victim woke up in his cab, parked on a residential street, on October 21 last year and had no memory of getting there. She noticed her jeans and belt had been cut. Hussain then went on to grope and assault her.

On December 2, his second victim stepped into what she believed to be an Uber cab she had booked but was in fact Hussain's car. She fell asleep and woke later to find Hussain kissing her on the mouth and fiddling with his trousers, as if he was doing up his buttons.

That same evening Hussain picked up his third victim, who woke up in his car at 5.45am to see him touching her legs and lifting up her dress.

When she returned home her tights and knickers had been partly cut off her body, in a similar way to the first victim.

London CPS reviewing lawyer Catherine Wear said: "Hussain preyed on the vulnerabilities of women passengers, cutting the clothing of two of his victims and sexually assaulting them after they had passed out in the back of his cab following nights out in Shoreditch.

"The strong CPS prosecution case which led to today's late guilty pleas showed that there could have been no question of these women consenting to any sexual activity as Hussain initially claimed.

"We are grateful to these brave women for having the courage to come forward and glad these admissions have spared them from any court appearances."

Hussain is due to be sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on July 10.

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