Manchester

A man who thought for years that he’d got away with rape has been jailed a decade later, thanks to a DNA match.

Ibrahim Khan (born 05/10/1968) of St Albans Avenue, Ashton-under-Lyne was found guilty of rape following a trial in December 2013.

On Thursday 27 February 2014, he was sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court to eight years imprisonment.

In the early hours of Sunday 31 October 2004, a 19-year-old girl had been out in Altrincham town centre and flagged down a private hire taxi to take her home.

The taxi driver, Ibrahim Khan, told the young woman to get into the front passenger seat as it was warmer, which she did, and the taxi set off to take her home.

The 19-year-old quickly fell asleep in the passenger seat and woke a short time later to find that Khan was on top of her and was raping her.

The girl shouted at him to get off and managed to escape from the car and run home.

Following this attack, a full investigation was launched by police in Trafford, appeals were run in the media and a DNA sample of the offender was taken, but the culprit was never identified.

In November 2012, Khan was arrested for an unrelated matter and his DNA sample was obtained. This was quickly matched to the DNA profile taken from the rape in 2004 and he was subsequently arrested by GMP’s Serious Sexual Offences Unit.

Further investigation revealed that in 2004, Khan was working as a taxi driver in Ashton-Under-Lyne and had dropped off passengers in Altrincham that evening in October when he spotted the victim. 

Detective Constable Rachel Ostick from GMP’s Serious Sexual Offences Unit said: “I would firstly like to commend the bravery shown by the victim in this case, who gave evidence at this trial nine years after the attack took place, forcing her to relive her rape ordeal once more in court. Finally today, justice has been served.

“On that night back in 2004, Khan knowingly accepted the fare when he was out of his area of operating. He took advantage of a vulnerable young woman who was fast asleep and raped her.  The public rely on taxi drivers to take them home safely, even when they are in vulnerable states and Khan abused this position of trust.

“I hope that today’s sentence will encourage other victims of rape to come forward and tell us about what has happened to them. We will investigate all reports thoroughly in order to bring justice to those men or women who have been raped, and there is wide-ranging support on offer to victims from both within the police and from other agencies.

“As this case demonstrates, we will also continue to utilise every tool and developing technology available to us to track down those responsible for carrying out these despicable crimes, no matter how long it takes.”
Greater Manchester is nationally recognised as a model of good practice in terms of support services available to victims.

- If you or someone you know has been raped or sexually assaulted, we encourage you not to suffer in silence and report it to the police or a support agency so you can get the help and support available.

- You can call Greater Manchester Police on 101, or alternatively people can refer themselves to St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre on 0161 276 6515.