Taxi driver not guilty of attempted rape

Taxi driver not guilty of attempted rape


http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Taxi-driver-not-guilty-of.4048407.jp

SUFFERED STRESS: Arfhan Qureshi.

Published Date: 03 May 2008
By Stephen Briggs
A MINICAB driver who was cleared of the attempted rape of a teenage girl has spoken of the stress he was under since his arrest.
In a dramatic day at Peterborough Crown Court yesterday, Arfhan Qureshi (22) was found not guilty of attempted rape and sexual assault after the jury spent less than two hours deliberating on the evidence.

Mr Qureshi, of Taverners Road, Millfield, Peterborough, denied sexually assaulting the 17-year-old girl in the back of his private hire cab after being asked to take her home on Saturday, February 3 last year.

And when the jury of nine women and three men returned with the unanimous verdict yesterday afternoon, Mr Qureshi cheered, before facing the jury and saying “thank you.” There were also loud cheers and claps from many of Mr Qureshi’s friends, family and colleagues who had packed the public gallery throughout the five-day trial.

After receiving the congratulations from his family and friends outside the court, a delighted Mr Qureshi said: “Justice picked on me. I always knew I was innocent, that is why I didn’t speak to a solicitor for nine months after I was arrested.

“There was a complete lack of evidence.

“There were times when I thought everything was going against me, but I was confident about the verdict. Justice is always done, and the truth always comes out in the end.”

The father of one also spoke of the pressure the looming court case had put on him, and especially on his family life since his arrest.

He said: “I have been very stressed over the last year, as have my family.

“I have been the victim, and it has been very distressing.

“My relationship with my wife has also been very strained, and it has been horrible thinking I might have to go to jail for a crime I did not commit when I have a four-month-old son.

“I am so relieved at the verdict.”

Mr Qureshi also said that he thought something needed to be done to prevent situations like his happening again.

He said: “As a taxi driver I am in a very vulnerable position with allegations such as this.

“But if there had been a proper police investigation into what happened, I would not have been put in this position this week.

“It has been a worry what people have been thinking of me, especially over the last week.

“My family have been fantastic throughout, and I want to thank them for the support, along with my teammates from my football team.”