...SHAME SHAME
UNLICENSED ALGERIAN CABBIE JAILED FOR FOR RAPING LONDON PASSENGER
An unlicensed taxi driver was jailed for raping a passenger in his car nearly one decade after being cleared of an almost identical attack. Mohamed Hacene- Chaouch, 46, of Catford, south-east London, took advan- tage of the drunken 24-year-old woman after she spent a night out in Soho, central London. The victim had been at a birthday party with friends and was so intoxicated
that
licensed black cabs had refused to take her home. By the time the Algerian married father of five picked her up on Tot- tenham Court Road, she was slipping in
and out of con- sciousness. Hacene-Chaouch, who was unlicensed and had convictions for touting, drove to her home in Hack- ney, east London, before the attack. He admitted picking the victim up but claimed no sexual activity could have taken place because he was only parked up for a minute. Howev- er, CCTV cameras proved he was lying. According to the mailonline, Hacene- Chaouch was convict- ed of rape following a trial at the Old Bailey, before being jailed for seven years and three months. Jurors were not
told Hacene- Chaouch had been
Mohamed Hacene- Chaouch
acquitted of an almost identical attack in the Tottenham Court Road area in 2004. Sentencing, Judge Wendy Joseph QC told him: “It must have been clear to
you that she was helplessly and hope- lessly drunk. She told you she was so drunk no black cab would take her. It is clear she could hard- ly stand and was barely able to walk. “You had positioned yourself where such people as her were found and you knew well that such touting was against the law. I am quite satisfied there was an element of predatory behav- iour. “She trusted you to take her safely home. She was clearly vul- nerable, obviously helpless and in your power. After
that
attack she suffered panic attacks and had great difficulty in
sleeping. She has found it impossible to form any new relation- ship with a man. She is a straightforward, sensible and practical young woman. “She holds out some hope for the future but recognises it will take a long time to get over what hap- pened to her. You refuse to accept the wrong you have done. I have never heard the least scin- tilla of remorse.” Before being led down to the cells, Hacene-Chaouch gestured to his wife in the public gallery and said: “I am inno- cent. I never touched her.” He was convicted of touting for hire on
“DANGEROUS” BOURNEMOUTH CABBIE RAPED GIRL AGED 14 IN HIS TAXI
A “dangerous” cab- bie. who raped a 1 4 - y e a r - o l d Bournemouth girl after forcing her to get into his taxi is fac- ing a lengthy prison sentence. According to the Bournemouth Daily Echo, Bournemouth Crown Court heard how “sexual preda- tor” Terence Collins had molested the ter- rified teenager two years before raping a trusting 20-year-old woman who got into his cab following a night out with a friend in March last year. Both victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were forced to relive their
shocking JULY 2013 PHTM
ordeals in court. Collins denied two offences of rape and one of sexual assault, involving the woman. But he was found guilty on the jury’s second day of delib- erations. Collins, 59, of no fixed abode, worked for Boscombe-based Star Radio Cars and held a private hire licence from 2002 until March 12 last year. Prosecutor Carolyn Branford-Wood told the court how Collins had grabbed his teenage victim who had been aware a car was following her as she walked home from Bournemouth town centre.
He forced her into his taxi before raping her. Speaking after the case Julia Wood- ward,
Prosecution
the Crown Ser-
vice’s Senior Crown Prosecutor,
de-
scribed Collins as “every
woman’s
worst nightmare,” adding: “He used his job as a taxi driver to attack women when they were at their most vulnerable.” Ms
Woodward
praised the bravery of Collins’ victims for
reporting the
offences, giving evi- dence and ensuring Collins was finally brought to justice. She
adding: “Thanks to them a
dangerous sexual predator will now be jailed. “We hope that this conviction will bring some kind of comfort and that they will now be able to move on with their lives. Our
thoughts are with them.” Collins’ licence was suspended
after Terence Collins
Bournemouth Coun- cil was alerted by Dorset police and revoked on May 3 last year. John Tye, chairman of Bournemouth Taxi Trades Associations, said: “The Bourne- mouth Taxi Trade are sickened
appalled by the ‘bes- tial’ and ‘abhorrent’ actions of a lone pri- vate hire driver and as far as we are con- cerned no sentence handed out by the Judge can be too severe. “We would like to express every sym- pathy to the two
victims and their fam- ilies involved in this tragedy. “Furthermore we would also express our total admiration for the two young ladies’ courage and fortitude in pursuing the prosecutions and having the strength of character to effec- tively relive their shocking
experi- and
ences.” With safety in mind, many taxis and pri- vate hire vehicles have been fitted with CCTV or cameras which
provide
images which can only be downloaded by the police and council. Star Radio Cars declined to comment.
PAGE 25
several occasions between 2004 and July 2012. On Janu- ary 27 this year he was waiting at the junction of Tottenham Court Road and Charing Cross Road. Hacene-Chaouch denied oral rape but was convicted. He was also alleged to have stolen her mobile phone and camera, but a sepa- rate theft charge was withdrawn by prose- cutors during the trial. He was banned from operating as a taxi driver for ten years and ordered to pay a £120 sur- charge.
Hacene-
Chaouch will also have to sign on the Sex Offenders Regis- ter for life.
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