York, Taxi driver Rapist.

A 51-YEAR-OLD taxi driver raped a 17-year-old as he took her home from her boyfriend’s house, a jury was told.

Darren Lester, 51, also sexually assaulted the girl after turning into a country lane and stopping his car, alleged prosecutor Kitty Taylor.

In a video interview played to the jury at York Crown Court, the girl said the driver forced himself on her and she struggled to push him away.

She said she had tears running down her face afterwards as he asked her if she was “all right”. He asked if she was going to tell anyone what had happened, the court heard.

Mrs Taylor told the court: “She was vulnerable, alone in a taxi at the time. She had left her friends behind. The defendant abused that trust.”

The two had never met before the alleged attack late last November, and Lester later told police the girl had consented to the sex acts. He also said he had grown-up children older than her.

Lester, of Olympian Court, off Hull Road, York, denies rape and a sexual assault.


Opening the prosecution, Mrs Taylor said the girl had spent the evening with her boyfriend, at the end of which he had called a taxi for her to take her to a different part of York.

Lester had picked her up in Wigginton. She had been drinking in a private house, and was “tipsy”, but not drunk.

Lester was chatty and she became uncomfortable when he started making sexual remarks.

Mrs Taylor said when he stopped the car, Lester pinned the girl by both arms in her seat and tried to kiss her. She resisted and he sexually assaulted her and then raped her.

The girl said she did not know how she managed to stop him. He drove her to an area she recognised and she got him to drop her off some distance from her home.


As she walked home, she phoned her boyfriend and a friend and told them what had happened. They urged her to go to police.

She said she did not know what to do and she did not want her mother to know. She said Lester made her give him her phone number and after he dropped her off, he rang her.

She said while she was considering whether to go to police, she rang his number back to ask if he had cameras in the taxi.

Later she got a text from him asking if she wanted to come for a drink and she texted back that she didn't want him to contact her again.

In February, during an argument with her mother, she told her what had happened and her mother told police. The trial continues.
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Edinburgh

A PRIORITY taxi rank outside Haymarket station is facing the axe – to improve disabled access to the new-look hub.

The loss of three gilt-edged cab rank slots right outside the station would be a major blow to taxi drivers who feel they are being shunted away from the station’s main ­entrance.

The move, however, could provide a major fillip for disabled access campaigners if station bosses gift the golden spaces to them.

Network Rail chiefs are understood to be meeting today to discuss slashing the spaces.

Taxis have traditionally been given three spaces to ­legally park in front of the station, but there is no drop-off zone for general traffic, or the disabled.

Edinburgh Council wants a new stopping zone for two vehicles at the back of the taxi rank.

But Network Rail officials are expected to recommend the rank be scrapped to give those with disabilities easier access.

The rail network operator wants the problem fixed by middle of next month when Haymarket’s new concourse is due to open.

The station is being expanded to cope with a predicted 125 per cent increase in passenger numbers over the next 15 years.

But campaigners fear the Haymarket situation – coupled with a plan to stop cars from driving into Waverley station from next year – could make both of the city’s two main train stations highly ­inaccessible for anyone with mobility problems.

David Griffiths, chief executive of Scottish pro-disability charity Ecas, said good disabled access is essential for a modern capital city.

He said: “My basic concern is that we’re making it more complicated at both the main stations for the city – it’s a problem.

“It’s something that needs to be sorted out between Network Rail and the council.

“The city is really keen to encourage everyone to visit, whether they have mobility permits or not.

“We’ve got to make sure our transport network enables them to do that.”

The Mobility and Access Committee Scotland (MACS) has also written to Transport Scotland raising concerns over the lack of drop-off points at Haymarket.

The junction has been a problem spot since tram works finished last month.

Long queues of cabs trying to enter the Haymarket Terrace rank have led to a squeeze on road space, leaving cyclists to weave into traffic and across tram lines at an unsafe angle.

Daily bike crashes have been reported, with campaign group Spokes making a log of the tram line accidents.

Central Taxis director Tony Kenmuir said cabbies would agree with the rank directly outside Haymarket station being replaced by a general drop-off zone as long as enough alternate facilities were provided.

He has recommended creating 12 dedicated bays across two taxi ranks – one outside the Tune Hotel opposite the station and a second on nearby Dalry Road.

Increased demand with less money to spend

COUNCILLOR Lesley Hinds says: “Councils across Scotland are facing enormous financial pressures with an increased demand on services but less money available to spend.

“The council needs to save £36 million in 2014-15 so we have published our draft budget five months ahead of proposals being finalised so residents and key stakeholders can give us feedback.

“With a one billion pound budget it’s important the people of Edinburgh have their say on where the money should be spent.

“And we will listen to what people have to say – last year the responses from the public led to an extra £12m being invested on our roads, pavements and street lighting.


“The economic downturn has given us obvious challenges but we are committed to delivering high-quality public services that improve the lives of city residents, protecting frontline services and investing our money wisely in those core areas set out in the capital coalition pledges.