Pervert taxi driver who sexually assaulted two teenage man in back of his cab is jailed

A taxi driver who sexually assaulted two teenage passengers in the back of his cab has been jailed and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.
John Simpson preyed on the “very drunk” men after picking them up late at night and driving them to secluded areas to attack them.John Simpson preyed on the “very drunk” men after picking them up late at night and driving them to secluded areas to attack them.
John Simpson preyed on the “very drunk” men after picking them up late at night and driving them to secluded areas to attack them.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

John Simpson preyed on the “very drunk” men after picking them up late at night and driving them to secluded areas to attack them.

One man, then 18, fell asleep in the taxi and woke to find Simpson performing a sex act on him at a deserted business park in Edinburgh.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The victim suffered cuts and scrapes to his manhood during the sex assault but managed to fight his attacker off before escaping the vehicle.

The second 18-year-old man was taken to back street in East Lothian where Simpson offered the teen oral sex in payment for the £36 fare.

The pervert driver, from Prestonpans, East Lothian, then jumped in the back of the cab and forced himself on the “terrified” man during the 2am assault in April 2019.

Simpson, 63, denied the charges but was found guilty of both attacks, and a separate offence of making sexual comments to a third male victim, by a jury at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He returned to the dock yesterday (MON) where Advocate Kenneth Cloggie, defending, said his client continues to deny the offences and “believes he was wrongly convicted”.

Mr Cloggie told the court following his conviction Simpson, a taxi driver for 30 years, and his family were forced to flee their home after local residents protested outside the property.

He said windows at Simpson’s home were smashed during the protests forcing the family to leave.

In sentencing, Sheriff Alistair Noble said: “In this case custody cannot be avoided given to the gravity of the offences which you have been convicted.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“You took advantage of two passengers, lone males in your taxi, who were grossly under the influence of alcohol and in the circumstances custody is unavoidable.”

Simpson was caged for 30 months and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.

The trial heard from the first victim, now 24, who described how he woke up to find Simpson performing oral sex on him in the back of the cab in July 2015.

The man told the jury after waking he was forced to fight the driver off and that he had suffered cuts and grazes to his penis during the assault.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The second victim, now 20, said he had been picked up by Simpson’s taxi after a drunken night out with pals in Edinburgh on April 29, 2019.

The man said Simpson had made sexual comments to him during the journey before pulling into a deserted street in Cockenzie, East Lothian.

He told the court the driver “jumped into the back and said he would perform oral sex on me as payment”.

The man said he was “very drunk” and “really scared” as Simpson sexually assaulted him but managed to fight the driver off before fleeing the taxi.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The man said he now suffers from “nightmares” due to the attack and is “struggling with my nerves”.

Simpson was found guilty of sexually assaulting a man at Lochside Avenue, Edinburgh, on July 18, 2015.

He was also found guilty of making sexual comments and sexually assaulting a second man in Cockenzie, East Lothian, on April. 29, 2019.

The taxi driver was also found to have made sexual comments to a third man during the course of a taxi journey in Edinburgh on May 1, 2019.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.