Fake minicab rapist jailed

11:45am Wednesday 25th June 2008

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A TOP policeman has said he is "surprised" by a sentence handed to a man who viciously raped a woman he had picked up in his illegal minicab.

Yogaratchan Arulpagasam, 31, from Milton Keynes, pleaded guilty to the rape of a 22-year-old woman in an alleyway off of Federal Road, Perivale, in the early hours of Saturday, July 14, last year.

He was jailed for four years and nine months on Friday at Isleworth Crown Court for rape and unlawful imprisonment.

Unemployed Arulpagasam was working as an unlicensed minicab driver when he picked his victim up outside The Crown pub in Cricklewood High Street at around 1.45am.

She asked to be taken back to her home in Brent and agreed a £5 fair with him, but said she got worried by the route he was taking.

Arulpagasam then pulled into the alleyway at around 2.30am, locked the doors of his car and threatened the passenger, before raping her.

A short time after this two men came to help the victim, who was still locked in Arulpagasam's car, and helped her get to the road where she phoned the police and a friend.

DNA tests on her clothes showed Arulpagasam was the prime suspect in the case and his car was stopped by police in Clapham on December 27.

The driver was a man who had bought the car two weeks before, but officers got Arulpagasam's address from him and arrested him on December 29.

Acting Detective Inspector James McEvoy, of Ealing Police's Sapphire Unit, said: "We are surprised at the sentence handed down to Arulpagasam following this vicious attack on a young vulnerable victim.

"He is a very dangerous individual who has now been removed from the streets of London for some considerable time "I pay tribute to the bravery and dignity of the victim throughout the investigation and trial and I hope his conviction provides some comfort as she tries to come to terms with the events of July last year.

"I would like to thank all those officers within the Met and the Home Counties who played a part in this investigation to bring this man to justice.

"Finally, I would urge people not to use illegal and unlicensed minicabs and always get a black cab or pre-book a car through a licensed minicab operator."

Arulpagasam was also recommended for deportation after his sentence ends and will have to sign the sex offenders register for life.