Car rapist has appeal against conviction rejected by judges
A RAPIST who attacked a teenager after she left a bar has had his appeal thrown out by a judge
Mohammed Maqsood, 36, was sentence to six years after he was found guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman he gave a lift to in Shawlands in December, two years ago.
Maqsood launched an appeal against his conviction claiming that the judge misdirected the jury and maintained his teenage victim consented to sex in his car and had initiated it.
Lord Carloway and the High Court judges rejected the appeal and said the victim had been too drunk to consent to sex.
The judges also rejected that appeal of misdirection of the jury and said the directions “did not cause a miscarriage of justice”.
The appeal judges were told that Maqsood saw his victim leaving a pub in Shawlands with a friend, also 18.
He dropped the friend off at a house and then took the woman to a car park in Thornliebank, where he raped her.
He then left her in the street where she was later discovered by her boyfriend and his mother, who had been looking for her, missing some clothes and her shoes.
Maqsood then went to a 24-hour gym, where he washed and put his victim’s clothes in a charity skip.
Maqsood admitted having sex with the woman but he claimed it was consensual and that it had been initiated by her.
Appeal judges rejected his appeal and he will continue to serve his six-year sentence.
Lord Carloway said: “The Crown contended that the complainer was incapable of consent as a result of the effects of alcohol, that incapacity does require proof.
“The corroboration in this case came from the evidence of the complainer’s friend, bar staff, the CCTV recording and the complainer’s boyfriend and her mother.”
The judges’ decision stated: “In a case, as here, where intercourse is admitted or otherwise proved, and the Crown contended that the complainer was incapable of consent as a result of the effects of alcohol, that incapacity does require formal proof.”
Lord Carloway added: “The trial judge’s directions were entirely in favour of the appellant (Maqsood). They did not cause any miscarriage of justice. The appeal is accordingly refused.”