Uber drivers 'accused of 32 sex attacks on London customers in one year'

FOI: Met Police detectives received 32 allegations of sexual assault against Uber drivers in 12 months
Andrew Matthews/PA
Hatty Collier19 May 2016
WEST END FINAL

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Uber drivers in London are accused of sexually assaulting customers once every 11 days, new figures reveal.

Metropolitan Police officers received 32 allegations of rape or sexual assault involving Uber drivers over 12 months, Freedom of Information request data shows.

The force dealt with 154 allegations of sex attacks involving taxi and minicab drivers, private chaffeurs and rickshaw riders in the year to February, The Sun reported.

Of those alleged attacks reported to police, 32 involved Uber drivers — the equivalent of about one every 11 days – according to the newspaper.

A spokesman for Uber said: “All drivers who use the Uber app in London are fully licensed by Transport for London and have undergone exactly the same enhanced DBS checks as black cab drivers, teachers and care workers.

“We take any allegations of this nature very seriously - we work closely with the police on their inquiries and prevent drivers from using the app while investigations take place. Our GPS technology also means that every trip - more than one million in London each week - is electronically recorded."

A Met Police spokesman said: “The MPS has a dedicated Cab Enforcement Unit, part of the Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC), which is responsible for enforcing the law relating to taxis and private hire vehicles in London.

“It works closely with the Safer Transport Teams and local borough police on joint operations to tackle touting and other cab related offences, with a specific focus on reducing sex offences in cabs through detection and deterrence activities.”

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