County Durham taxi driver picked up drunk woman, drove her to the beach and raped her

A taxi driver picked up a drunk woman, drove her to the beach and raped her.

Ian Phillips was loitering in Sunderland city centre in the early hours of the morning after his shift. Newcastle Crown Court heard how two passers-by led the victim to the 48-year-old’s vehicle and asked him to take her home safely.

Instead of making sure she returned home after her night of partying, he took her to the Hendon beach area of ​​the city where he raped her. Phillips had already turned off the cameras in his taxi and signed off from work for the evening.

Prosecutor Jane Waugh said Phillips turned off the cameras in his vehicle and waited some time before taking the woman away. She said the victim was particularly vulnerable and described herself as “dead drunk”.

The court in Newcastle heard that the woman was out and about in Sunderland in February last year and was so drunk she had no money and could not see her phone screen.

Two people passing by helped her into Phillip’s taxi. The next thing she knew, she was leaning against the back of a car with a man standing on the other side of the trunk, watching her.

The court heard she could remember saying, “Why are we here, I should go home,” and the man saying, “Come on, come on.” When she next opened her eyes, she realised she was in a car and on Hendon Beach.

The next thing she remembers is stumbling into her mother’s house. Police were called when she suffered physical injuries and discovered that no money had been taken for a taxi.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she suffers from severe anxiety and depression, and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder. She said she had to move to be closer to her family and give up her job.

The woman said: “The incident has broken me as a person. I have no self-esteem or confidence. I can’t sleep because of flashbacks and night terrors.”

“Going through the court process was stressful. He knew what he had done to me, and yet he forced me to go through the court process.

“I still have a very long way to go to try and find my new normal. I don’t think I’ll ever be the person I was before.”

When Phillips was arrested, he said the woman approached him and the sex was consensual. He claimed he had already signed off work so he could make money. He also said he signed off to avoid being sent on extended assignments by the company he was working for at the time.

Phillips, of Noble Street, Easington Colliery, County Durham, denied rape but was found guilty by a jury following a trial.

Defense attorney Lee Fish told the court: “Although the defendant has committed this very serious crime, there is no indication that he has behaved in this way before. He has no previous convictions.”

The court heard that Phillips, who had worked as a taxi driver for nine years, was living with his wife and two children at the time. His partner has since ended the relationship and evicted him from the tenancy.

Judge Robert Spragg told Phillips: “This was a sustained and protracted incident. You drove her to two different locations and ended up on the beach where you raped her. In my opinion, there was a significant amount of planning involved.”

“As she said in court, ‘We should be able to trust taxi drivers,’ and the vast majority of taxi drivers are trustworthy and can be trusted.”

The judge said he was “absolutely convinced” that he had waited there with the cameras turned off, hoping to pick up a defenseless, drunk woman he could take advantage of.

He sentenced Phillips to 12 years in prison with five years of extended probation for a total of 17 years. Phillips must serve two-thirds of his sentence before he can be considered for release.

He was also ordered to comply with a restraining order and a sexual violence prevention order.