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| Guilty: illegal cabbie raped student http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=14825 |
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| Author: | Brummie Cabbie [ Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:12 am ] |
| Post subject: | Guilty: illegal cabbie raped student |
Guilty: illegal cabbie raped student Thu Sep 2 2010 17:44:15 An illegal minicab driver is facing a long prison sentence after being convicted of raping one of his passengers. Astor Murray was caught after being stopped by police for taxi touting six years after he attacked the 22-year-old student. The 49-year-old's DNA was checked against unsolved crimes and matched to evidence in the rape in 2003. Murray, from Enfield, north London, was found guilty of rape and indecent assault at the Old Bailey and has been remanded in custody awaiting sentence. Murray told the jury that while he admitted to being an illegal taxi tout, he hadn't raped the student because she had consented. Students in London are often warned of the dangers of taking unlicensed mini-cabs in the capital. The victim had told the court she'd be out with friends when Murry approached her at a bus-stop - offering to take her home for a tenner. As a result of the attack the women says she is now afraid of going out alone and has not been able to have a relationship with a man since the incident. Source; http://itn.co.uk/81bdc92e0fbbf79e6d4c4479d7f51f86.html |
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| Author: | Brummie Cabbie [ Sun Sep 26, 2010 1:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Unlicensed London taxi driver jailed for raping passenger Saturday, September 25, 2010 A judge at the Old Bailey in London has sentenced unlicensed taxi driver Astor Murray, 49, to eight years in prison for the rape and indecent assault of a passenger of his illegal taxi business in 2003. He forced the 22-year-old student, who cannot be named, to perform oral sex on him before raping her in the back of his car and was linked to the crime when he was arrested for unrelated offences last year. Murray's DNA was taken in late 2009 when he was arrested for touting unlicensed taxi services and assault; he was convicted of touting in October and admits running an illegal taxi business for two years. A check against unsolved crimes revealed his DNA matched that from the unsolved sex attack in November 2003. The victim, who earlier testified against Murray, gave a victim impact statement in which she stated that she took only black cabs and not minicabs like the one she was raped in. She said she is afraid to go out on her own and that "I have not been able to have a relationship with a man since this happened." She previously told the court she had been drinking with friends and was at a bus stop at 4 a.m. when "I was approached by a man who said he was a minicab driver. He offered to take me home for £10." However, instead Murray took her to a Shoreditch industrial estate. There he locked the minicab's doors, removed his trousers and forcibly received oral sex from her before raping her. He later stopped the car at traffic lights and released her. The jury took just 50 minutes earlier this month to return guilty verdicts to both charges. Judge Ann Goddard QC, sentencing, described the rape as "a very serious offence," and told Murray "on that early morning... you were in my view a predator." In mitigation defence barrister Philip Sutton claimed that "this may be a case where, because of the passage of time, maybe by the time we got to the trial or shortly before the trial, he may have convinced himself of his innocence." He added that Murray had now accepted what he had done, and although he claimed at trial his sex with the woman was consensual he wrote a letter explaining his actions to Judge Goddard. Goddard described this as a "little late" but Sutton responded that "this is a man who is in fact now removing the cloud from his own eyes." The man's previous touting conviction and what Gaddard described as "a lasting effect on [the victim]" was also taken into consideration. Murray was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for the rape, with a concurrent three years for the indecent assault. He will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life and, according to the Enfield Independent, will likely spend half the sentence behind bars and the other paroled on license. Goddard expressed a hope that the trial's outcome "will be of some help to" the victim. The court also heard Murray had alcohol problems and a failed relationship on his mind, with Sutton calling him a "loner" who was dealing with his issues instead of seeking assistance. Source; http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Unlicensed_ ... _passenger AND Illegal minicab driver jailed for raping passenger (UKPA) – 2 days ago 24.09.2010 An illegal minicab driver from north London has been jailed for eight years for raping a passenger. Astor Murray, 49, was arrested six years after attacking the 22-year-old student when he was stopped by police for taxi touting. His DNA was checked against unsolved crimes and matched to evidence in the rape in 2003, the Old Bailey heard. Murray, of Edmonton, was found guilty earlier this month of rape and indecent assault. He was also jailed concurrently for three years for the indecent assault, and was ordered to remain on the sex offenders register for life. Judge Ann Goddard told Murray: "I regard you as a predator. You saw a young woman and enticed her into your car by pretending to be a minicab driver." The student had told the court she was out with friends when she was approached by Murray at a bus stop in central London. She said: "I was approached by a man who said he was a minicab driver. He offered to take me home for £10." But Murray pulled into an industrial estate in Shoreditch, locked the doors and raped her. She said he locked the doors and she could not leave until he stopped at traffic lights and let her go. In an impact statement, the woman said she was now afraid of going out alone and would take only black cabs. She said: "I have not been able to have a relationship with a man since this happened." The court heard Murray was convicted last October of touting. He claimed the sex was consensual. He admitted working for two years as an illegal taxi tout. Det Con Andy Beete said: "After all this time Murray thought he had got away with this awful crime, but after he posed as a taxi driver and got caught, officers matched his DNA to forensic evidence taken from the scene." Source; http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpres ... TmCdgbX66A - The Press Association |
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