Investigators have said that a bogus taxi driver who prowled the streets looking for women to rape on their way home from nights out may have attacked other victims.
Police are appealing for women who think they may have been approached or attacked by Graham Head to come forward.
Head, 66, kidnapped and tried to rape two women, was caught after one victim remembered three digits of his car registration.
He had armed himself with a balaclava, latex gloves, condoms and Viagra pills and posed as a cab driver, scouring the streets of Brighton in search of victims.
The first attack involved a woman in her late teens who was dragged into bushes in a park near the city in the early hours of August 19 last year.
The victim was driven by Head from Brighton city centre to Hove Park, around 15 minutes away.
He then tried to rape her while wearing a face mask but fled the scene when the victim’s mobile phone rang, police said.
Two months later, a woman in her 20s woke up in a car she thought was a taxi to find a man sexually assaulting her.
Uncovering the Perpetrator’s History
She had accepted a ride in Head’s Mercedes – believing it to be a taxi – to go from Brighton city centre to nearby Hove on the evening of November 17.
The woman escaped and called the police at around 3.10 am. She could recall three digits of the car’s registration plate, and just minutes later, police found Head’s silver estate in central Brighton.
Inside the vehicle, police discovered paraphernalia which included condoms and Viagra tablets.
The roadside also found a mobile phone belonging to the second victim after Head threw it out of the window during the chase.
Footage presented to Hove Crown Court last week showed the first victim walking up to a silver Mercedes estate, tracked through the city centre on CCTV and doorbell cameras, and driving slowly along the road near Hove Park.
Laura told her family she became concerned for her safety when the driver passed her home.
She said he locked the car’s doors and drove her to a lay-by near the Donegal border, where he raped her.
Improving Passenger Safety Measures
Laura was too upset to speak, but her sister Louise Nixon said on her behalf.
“It’s devastating, she tried to fight him off, but he was too hefty for her,” she said.
“After it was over, he remitted to the front seat and asked her where she lived before taking her home.”
Louise said her younger sister is terrified in her home and needs constant care.
“She can’t even get out of bed in the morning, and she wants to warn other girls to be careful before they get into a car on a night out.
“Don’t flag taxis down; make sure you go home with friends. She looked for plates when he was taking her home but could find none.”
The PSNI said: “This is an active police investigation.
“A team of detectives from the PSNI’s Rape Crime Unit are conducting this investigation, and all lines of inquiry are currently being pursued.”
Ensuring Justice and Preventing Future Incidents
Helena Bracken of the Nexus Institute, which works with victims of sexual abuse, expressed her shock at the incident and urged other women to be aware of the dangers.
“I desire that every one of us will be more cautious when making our way home in taxis and check the vehicle is authorised,” she said.
“If practical, make sure someone is there to accompany you home because I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what that poor girl has endured.”
This is the first picture of a ‘predatory’ sex attacker who raped a woman after lying he was a taxi driver. Thasawar Iqbal targeted lone females outside Birmingham city centre nightclubs in the early morning hours.
The 41-year-old sexually assaulted two victims in a matter of months, raping the second woman after he had been arrested and bailed for attacking the first. After being found guilty of multiple offences, including kidnap and rape, he was declared ‘dangerous’ and sentenced to 17 years, with an extended five-year licence period at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, May 26.
West Midlands Police has now released his picture, paying testament to the courage of his two victims who ‘endured traumatic ordeals’. Iqbal struck on December 18, 2021, when he approached a woman in Birmingham city centre and claimed he was a taxi driver.
