Taxi Driver On Trial After Reportedly Raping Woman In South London Flat

WARNING: Vivid descriptions of sexual assault and a rape below.

A 61-year-old taxi driver is currently on trail in London for rape and sexual assault after “encouraging” a drunk female passenger to sleep with him. 

In a report by MyLondon, jurors at Inner London Crown Court heard how the victim—who was in her late twenties—had been out near St Paul’s Cathedral for celebratory work drinks before she was collected by the driver, David Jacobs, and taken to her South London flat.

CCTV later showed the woman falling backwards in the bar while gathering her belongings. Staff also followed her outside and watched as she hailed a black cab. During the journey home, she recalled becoming “upset”, at which point her driver, David Jacobs, began to speak with her.

Prosecutor Amanda Hamilton said: “She noticed that the conversations were going in strange ways; it was becoming suggestive. She wasn’t being suggestive towards him in any way and felt that she was having a mental health episode. She can’t remember what he said but she knows he asked her to show him her breasts and that’s what prompted her to press the button on her phone.”

During the voice recording, which was played to the courtroom, Jacobs can be heard saying: “You might as well let me f*** you?” to which the women responds: “So what, so you mean if I want to die, I would let you f*** me?” Jacob replies: “Yes, because you don’t care. You don’t care, do you?” 

Hamilton added: “She doesn’t remember getting out of the taxi, opening her front door or closing the front door. She remembers a large old man who pulled her work dress over her head. She could hardly stand when this was happening. She couldn’t remember what happened to the rest of her clothes.”

The victim said the driver was on top of her “penetrating [my] vagina with his penis”, and said that Jacobs said that he would “would soon be finished” and carried on. 

The following morning, the woman woke in the early hours feeling “anxious, confused and violated” and found her cushion on the floor soiled with vomit. She began “piecing the events of the night before together” and called a friend to play the voice recording from the night of the incident.  

Speaking during the time of the attack, the woman described Jacobs as a man with “hairy body with a beer belly” and that he had told her he was married with children, prompting officers to launch an investigation, gather CCTV footage and charge the 61-year-old. Although it has been noted “by all sides that there was intentional penetration by Jacobs through his penis”, the taxi driver has denied all charges and will continue to stand trial later this week.