Officers match DNA to 2003 sex attack

A BOGUS taxi driver who lured a young woman into a mini-cab to rape her has been convicted almost seven years after the sickening sex attack.

Astor Newton Murray, now 49, of Chichester Road, Edmonton, faces jail after DNA taken for a taxi touting offence last year matched forensic evidence.

The rapist preyed on his victim as she waited for a bus home after a night out with friends in the Old Street area on Sunday November 9 2003.

He approached the 22-year-old at about 4am in City Road and asked if she needed a taxi.

She refused at first but when he offered her a reasonable rate, she agreed.

Murray then drove the woman to an industrial estate where he stripped off his shirt and trousers.

The woman tried to escape but found the cab doors were locked.

Murray indecently assaulted and raped her. He then insisted on driving her to her home in south London with the doors still bolted, despite her pleas for freedom.

The victim finally managed to escape when her attacker stopped at traffic lights, and a passer-by helped her call police.

But Murray was only seized after he was charged for taxi touting and assaulting police in October 2009.

He was found guilty of the 2003 sex offences at the Old Bailey on Thursday (September 2). He is due to be sentenced on September 23.

Detective Constable Andy Beete, the officer in charge the Cold Case Saphire Unit investigating team said: “After all this time Murray thought he had got away with this awful crime, but after he posed as a taxi driver and got caught, officers matched his DNA to forensic evidence taken from the scene.”

“Today’s outcome shows victims of rape that the Cold Case Sapphire Unit will pursue their attackers and bring them to prosecution, no matter how much time has passed.”