A Cambridgeshire woman was raped as she slept in a taxi cab on her way home after a night out in London, a court heard.

The private hire cab driver has been put behind bars for eight years after being convicted of rape.

Siddiq Muzumder, 33, picked up the victim following a night out with friends in London at Pasha nightclub on April 26, 2014.

Detective Constable Clare Daniel said: “This was a monstrous crime, where the private hire car driver was entrusted to deliver the young woman home. He abused this position.

“The victim has been very strong during the process and has co-operated with every police procedure. A key element to securing this conviction was early reporting of the crime, which enabled us to secure forensic evidence.

“It is this evidence that helped us secure the conviction due to the victim having no memory of the event.”

Cambridge Crown Court heard that at about 1am Muzumder pulled over on the hard shoulder of the M11, about 10 minutes away from the victim’s home, and raped the woman, who was either asleep or unconscious.

He then dropped her off close to her home.

The victim reported the incident the following morning and investigations identified the private hire car firm that the victim had used, which lead to Muzumder’s arrest.

Muzumder, of Roman Road, London, denied rape but was found guilty, by a unanimous verdict, on Tuesday November 10 (2015) and was thi smonth handed his sentence from a judge sitting at Norwich Crown Court.