Huge jump in sex attacks by taxi and minicab drivers

Sex attacks carried out by private hire and taxi drivers in London skyrocketed by more than 80 per cent in just a year.

Transport for London (TfL) said 294 incidents were reported to police in 2018 – including 25 rapes and 269 other sexual offences, mostly consisting of groping incidents.

Some 17 drivers were charged, including 15 private hire drivers, a taxi driver and an unlicensed driver, but there have only been six convictions in the 12 cases that have been through the courts.

The figures represent an 81 per cent increase on 2017, when 162 offences were reported.

None of the drivers currently hold an operating licence.

Journeys with private hire vehicles such as Uber must be pre-booked, whereas taxis – also known as black cabs – can be hailed in the street.

The Metropolitan Police and City of London Police data was published by TfL, which licenses taxi and private hire drivers in the capital.

TfL said the rise was linked to new guidance issued to private hire operators in late 2017, which stressed the importance of reporting criminal conduct to police immediately.

Its head of transport policing and community safety, Mandy McGregor, said: ‘We expect the highest standards of behaviour and any sexual behaviour by a licensed driver towards a passenger is completely unacceptable.

‘We would urge anyone who experiences this to report it immediately to TfL and the police so it can be taken seriously and investigated.’

A total of 11 Uber drivers were charged with sex offences in 2018.

Uber driver Nadeem Afzal, from Chigwell, was handed a 12-month suspended sentence earlier this year after pleading guilty to exposing himself to a female passenger, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The 51-year-old repeatedly asked the woman, aged in her early 20s, to touch him and perform a sex act during a journey in the early hours of 1 November 2018.

Uber’s application for a new London operating licence was rejected by TfL in November last year due to safety concerns.

TfL said at least 14,000 trips were made with drivers who were not the ones shown on the app.

The ride-hailing firm has been allowed to continue operating pending its appeal against the decision.

TfL’s previous refusal to renew the company’s licence in September 2017 was later overturned by a judge.

Uber’s UK and Ireland general manager Melinda Roylett said: ‘There is nothing more important than the safety of the riders and drivers who use the Uber app.

‘Since 2018, Uber is the only operator TfL has required to report every serious incident to the Metropolitan Police and the new statistics reflect that requirement.’