A MAN who thought he’d got away with raping a girl in Altrincham 10 years ago has been jailed due to DNA match.


Ibrahim Khan, 45, of St Albans Avenue, Ashton-under-Lyne was found guilty of rape following a trial at Minshull Street Crown Court in December 2013.


Today, February 27, he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.


In the early hours of October 31, 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 and woke a short time later to find that Khan was on top of her and was raping her.


She shouted at him to get off and managed to escape and run home.


Following this attack, a full investigation was launched by Trafford Police, 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 – which was quickly matched to the DNA profile taken from the rape in 2004 and he was arrested.


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, when he spotted the victim.


Det Con 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.”