'Monster' taxi driver who raped girl jailed

A "monster" who raped a vulnerable teenage girl and a woman in separate attacks has been jailed for 20 years.

Taxi driver Riyasth Hussain, 45, was convicted of three counts of rape, which took place between 2004 and 2008 in Rotherham, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday.

The court heard he attacked the girl twice in about 2004, when she was 13 or 14 and in care, and the woman, who was in her 20s, in a bedsit in front of others in 2008.

Sentencing Hussain, from Doncaster, on Thursday, Judge Sarah Wright told him: "The harm and the wider harm you have caused is of unimaginable proportions."

Hussain was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of Operation Stovewood, which investigates child sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

According to the NCA, Hussain stopped his car in a street in Rotherham and offered to help a girl who was being verbally abused by a man.

When he later passed her again on a street, the victim agreed to get into the vehicle and Hussain drove her to an empty industrial estate where he pulled her out of the car and raped her.

Prosecutor David Hewitt told the court Hussain drove off after the attack, leaving the girl on her own.

On the second occasion he raped her, Hussain plied her with alcohol, Hewitt said.

In a victim impact statement the woman said by the time she met Hussain, she had already been exploited and abused by other men in Rotherham.

She described how Hussain would rape her and then "chuck me away like I was nothing", adding that his offending would "stay with me for the rest of my life".

Addressing him directly, she said: "When you met me, I was just a fragile, vulnerable little girl who you could easily abuse. Today I'm a woman and my only goal is justice.

"You stole my childhood, now I'm taking your freedom."

The court heard the second victim told investigators she had been raped by Hussain while staying in a bedsit in 2008.

In a statement read to the court on her behalf, she said: "I was brought up to forgive and be understanding of others but I can never forgive what this monster has done to me.

"I will hate him to the day I die. He has completely ruined my life."

Judge Wright told Hussain his offending had caused devastation and immense harm, which "cannot and never will be repaired".

"Their lives are affected forever," she said.

Judge Wright paid tribute to the two complainants, saying they had shown "the upmost courage" and ensured their "voices have now been heard".

Hussain, a father of three children aged between three and 16, had previous convictions including robbery, firearms and drug offences dating back to the 2000s.

Liz Fell, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The cruelty and abuse the victims suffered at the hands of Hussain was horrific, causing a lasting impact on their lives today.

"It has been extremely difficult for both victims to come forward and give evidence but they have done so with tremendous courage allowing us to bring this offender to justice."

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