Rapist traced through iPhone “Where’s My Phone” app
Daniel Buchanan was jailed for three years - Credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima
A man who pretended to be a taxi driver and attacked a woman he picked up in Shoreditch has been found guilty of rape.
Paul Michael Causer, 39, of Barfleur Lane, Deptford, drove the woman from London to a dead-end country lane in Godstone, Surrey, last August where he sexually assaulted her.
The Old Bailey heard Causer met the victim in Shoreditch while she was looking for transport to get home after a night out.
He offered to drive her home to south London in exchange for some petrol money, and he made several attempts on the way to withdraw up to £600 using her bank card, which he was unsuccessful in doing.
During the journey Causer began to touch the woman in an inappropriate manner and ignored her pleas to stop.
Guilty
He claimed that the vehicle he was driving was borrowed and pretended it had a problem, which meant he had to stop.
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But then he forced himself on the woman and left her on the roadside.
A security guard from a nearby site found her in the early hours of the morning and called police.
Causer was traced following extensive police enquiries, including using the Where’s My Phone app on the victim’s iPhone.
He was found guilty of rape last Tuesday, following a six-day trial
He had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted theft in relation to trying to withdraw money using the woman’s bank card.
Det Sgt Adele Robertson, of Surrey Police’s sexual offences investigation team, said: “Causer is a dangerous man who specifically targeted the victim, in this case preying on her vulnerability in the early hours of the morning after she had left a nightclub. It was a deeply distressing incident for her and I hope the verdict will help her move on with her life.”
Causer will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on July 10.
