TAXI DRIVER CONVICTED OF 2006 RAPE OF STUDENT
A man previously working as a taxi driver has been convicted of raping a female student after an evening out in Loughborough nearly two decades ago.The victim reported the incident in October 2006, but the suspect was not identified at the time, leading to the case being closed in 2009.
It was only in 2023 that Mahbubur Rahman, who resides on Jane Street in Chadderton, Oldham, was charged following a DNA match linking him to the evidence collected from the scene.
Rahman was found guilty of a single count of rape by a jury at Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday after a four-day trial.
He is now awaiting sentencing.
At the time of the attack, Rahman was 31 years old; currently, he is 50.
The incident occurred shortly after 2:15 a.m., when Rahman approached the woman in the street.
He then took her to an ATM on Greenclose Lane and drove her to George Deacon Court car park in Chestnut Street, where he assaulted her inside his car.
The victim testified that she suffered from flashbacks and described feeling helpless and unable to resist during the assault.
Additionally, a former housemate provided evidence, describing seeing the woman early on October 7, 2006, upset and distressed, knocking on her door.
The defense argued that the victim agreed to sex in exchange for cash and a taxi fare, but the woman’s denial was reaffirmed during cross-examination.
Police investigations at the time included reviewing CCTV footage and efforts to identify the driver; however, these proved unsuccessful, and the case was closed due to lack of evidence, as the DNA evidence did not match any database entries then.
In April 2022, detectives matched Rahman’s DNA to that recovered from the scene during a separate investigation involving a burglary arrest, where his DNA was obtained through a mouth swab.
Detective Constable Kristina Page-Brown commented that Rahman exploited the victim’s trust and showed no remorse, expressing hope that justice has been served and the offender will serve time.
The court heard how Rahman picked up the woman following her night out, then raped her after stopping at an ATM and taking her to a parking lot.
The victim described feeling helpless during the assault, and authorities recovered her underwear and examined extensive CCTV footage for evidence.
Rahman, who had no prior police record, is now facing sentencing for this offense.
