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Dramatic moment police confront rapist taxi driver who attacked a woman and a girl, 15, after a chance DNA match finally linked him to the crimes 10 YEARS later

A taxi driver rapist who attacked a woman and a 15-year-old girl in 2007, but escaped capture for 10 years, finally faced officers in a dr...

A taxi driver rapist who attacked a woman and a 15-year-old girl in 2007, but escaped capture for 10 years, finally faced officers in a dramatic episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody.
Last night's Channel 4 programme showed footage of Shipu Ahmed, then 36, of Luton, being questioned after finally being arrested in September 2017 - a decade after he committed the crimes. 
Back in 2007 a 15-year-old girl and woman, 22, both reported being raped by a taxi driver. Police collected DNA evidence at the time and knew they were connected but had never been able to match the sample to a suspect.
However when Ahmed was swabbed for DNA after being reported for a domestic incident in 2017, police were able to link him to the attacks and brought him in for questioning - only for Ahmed to swear on his daughter's life that both incidents were consensual.
Referring to one of the victims, he said: 'Only she knows, I know, and God knows what happened,' before claiming that 'an English guy wouldn't have to go through this'. 
Detective Ginnette Amico told him: 'I think you weren't having much sex at the time. By your own admission, you weren't very sexually experienced and you saw drunk, alone females as an easy target.

DC Jon Wheeler added: You've been very lucky for the past 10 years that you've never been arrested and your DNA has never been obtained. It must have been a real shock this morning was it?' 
Speaking of her determination to charge the perpetrator, Detective Amico said: 'Behind every unsolved rape case there will be a victim who has not received justice. It's my job to not leave any stone unturned.
'I see myself as a protector of victims, and the two victims have had to carry on their lives with the scars he has created for them.'
Viewers saw Detective Amico watching footage of the victims' interviews from 2007, as both described being picked up by a taxi driver and offered a lift.
Suspect Shipu Ahmed (pictured) attempted to convince Detective Amico that he'd been falsely accused of rape by two women, and even swore on his daughter's life that he was innocent
Suspect Shipu Ahmed (pictured) attempted to convince Detective Amico that he'd been falsely accused of rape by two women, and even swore on his daughter's life that he was innocent 
Detective Amico (pictured), who revealed she felt responsible for protecting victims, tracked down one of the women - now in her 30s - and asked her for as much detail as she could recall about the crime, in order to gather enough evidence to charge Shipu Ahmed
Detective Amico (pictured), who revealed she felt responsible for protecting victims, tracked down one of the women - now in her 30s - and asked her for as much detail as she could recall about the crime, in order to gather enough evidence to charge Shipu Ahmed 
The first, a 15-year-old girl, was picked up and driven on a route she didn't know, before Ahmed stopped in a car park, pushed her to the ground and committed the rape. 
The second, a 22-year-old, got into Ahmed's tax with a male companion. 
However, when the man she was with got out of the car to pick up something from his house, Ahmed drove off and raped her. 

How Ship Ahmed was brought to justice  

Luton black cab divers were asked to give voluntary DNA samples after two women reported being raped in 2007. 
But Shipu Ahmed, then 26, failed to provide a sample and was not followed up.
When he was arrested in September 2017 for an unrelated domestic incident, a DNA match was found.
Ahmed, of Avondale Road, Luton appeared before Luton Crown Court in June 2018, where he denied raping a 15-year-old girl and a 22-year-old woman.
The court heard the teenager had been drinking with friends on 30 November 2007, but had an argument and walked off, before seeing the taxi being driven by Ahmed.
Prosecutor Sally Hobson told the court: 'She said she had money, but he said: "Don't worry. It will be free".
'She asked him to take her back to her friends in Edlesborough, but he headed off in the direction of Totternhoe. He said he was going to turn round, but didn't.'
Ms Hobson said that when Ahmed stopped he was wearing gloves and the girl 'struggled and tried to push him away' before he raped her.
Ahmed had claimed the girl was 18 or 19, and that they had held hands, kissed and then moved on to have sex.
The court heard the older victim was very drunk after leaving a Dunstable nightclub early on 15 December 2007, and she and a man were going to get into Ahmed's taxi.
But while the man went to get his car keys Ahmed drove off with the woman, 'took advantage of the situation' and raped her.
Ahmed said the woman had been sober and told him she would pay her fare with a sexual favour.
He was convicted and jailed for 22 years, and must register as a sex offender for life.

Despite the new DNA evidence, however, officers found that reopening a cold case had its challenges, and they were left frustrated by a wall of silence when they knocked on doors and asked questions. 
'What they've got to realise is that if it was their mum or their sister, then they'd want people to say something,' Detective Amico explained. 
During the hour-and-a-half episode, police were able to track down the older of the two victims, now in her thirties, and listened as she tried to recall as much detail about the attack as she could. 
With only 24 hours to charge Ahmed, officers had to be sure that they had all the evidence necessary. 

They looked at phone records to identify the time of day that Ahmed would most likely be home in order to take him into custody.
But he was unable to keep his story straight, and was charged with two counts of rape. 
In June 2018, Ahmed pleaded not guilty but was convicted at Luton Crown Court and sentenced to 22 years in jail. 

2 comments

  1. Another crime committed by an invader. The corrupt system covered up for him.

    ReplyDelete