Rapist posed as taxi driver to snare victim
Monday, October 25, 2010, 07:00
A Brazilian illegal immigrant who posed as a taxi driver to collect a female nightclubber before raping her has been jailed for six years.
Sankey Bezeera, 23, picked up his victim from Old Market and drove her to woodland to carry out the sexual assault – and then drove her back to her Bristol home.
Following a nine-day hunt, Bezeera was arrested when detectives discovered he had placed his silver BMW up for sale and posed as prospective buyers to view it in London.
When they searched the car's satellite navigation system, they found it contained the victim's postcode – which Bezeera had used to drive his victim home after the attack.
The nightclubber got into Bezeera's car, thinking it was a taxi, following a night out on March 1.
Bezeera, of Boycroft Avenue, north west London, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court in August after admitting rape and pleading guilty to a sexual assault committed in Burnham-on-Sea in 2006.
He will be deported after serving his prison term.
Police said they faced a massive uphill task cracking the case, because the victim could only remember she had been taken in a "black car with a boot".
Detectives from Operation Bluestone, Bristol's dedicated team for tackling rape and sexual assault, began by trawling hundreds of hours' worth of CCTV from cameras in the vicinity of Old Market, eventually identifying a grey BMW as a suspect car.
Forensics experts linked DNA taken from the victim to a crime scene from an unsolved sex attack in 2006 in Burnham-on-Sea, where a woman was assaulted.
The Bristol detectives got in touch with Burnham CID who checked their files and found that a man had been arrested in their case but was never charged through a lack of evidence. They also recalled that another man was present in his flat at the time of his arrest and was identified as his Brazilian-born nephew Bezeera – who owned a five-door silver BMW.
Detectives then found his car was up for sale for £5,500 in London and so, posing as prospective buyers, they arranged to view it in Wembley to make the arrest.
Operation Bluestone was implemented in September 2009 to respond to any allegation of rape or serious sexual assault across the city. As a result of the team being implemented detection rates have more than doubled.
Chief Constable Colin Port said: "Rape is horrendous and it is imperative that we hunt down those violent men as a priority."
Source; http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/crime/Ra ... ticle.html
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