Migrant delivery driver sentenced to over eight years for rape in hospital car park

A migrant delivery driver who raped a woman over a car bonnet in a hospital car park, just moments after she had left A&E, has been jailed. Suleman Mukaish, 27, was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison, and a further three years on extended licence, for the horror attack on a vulnerable woman in Worthing, West Sussex, on March 11. Mukaish, who was assisted by an Urdu interpreter during the hearing, studied computer science in the UK, passed his Master's degree and had a work visa, when he was arrested two days following the assault at Gatwick airport. He had a one-way ticket to Pakistan.

The court heard that on the evening of the attack, the victim had attended Worthing Hospital “intoxicated, confused and unsteady on her feet” and then left. Chetna Patel, prosecuting, said the highly-educated sex predator was cycling home when he spotted his victim and grabbed her by the arm before leading her to the car park opposite the hospital.

She attempted to hold on to the wall to stop him, before she was forced onto the bonnet of a car and raped, the prosecutor said.

Mukaish then fled, before the distressed victim was found by a member of the public a short time later. Police were called, and the woman was able to identify the car where she was attacked, enabling forensic officers to recover handprints and fingerprints, which led them to Mukaish.

Sentencing, Judge Christine Henson KC said the woman “was at her most vulnerable when you, a complete stranger, raped her over the bonnet of a car in the car park adjacent to the hospital that she had just left from”.

“The impact psychologically on (her) has been immense”, she said.

The court heard the woman was fearful of contracting HIV after the attack by a stranger and is no longer able to return to the hospital because of flashbacks of the assault.

Mukaish had entered the UK on a student visa with graduate leave until 2028, and has no previous convictions, Ms Patel told the court.

In mitigation, the court heard Mukaish came to the country with good prospects, was highly educated and hard-working, and was working multiple jobs at the time.

According to his defence counsel, Mukaish’s account was that he was working in his job as a delivery driver when he saw the woman in trouble and stopped to assist her, but then it was clear he “takes advantage of a woman in a very vulnerable position”.

The defence said that Mukaish’s account is that she asked him for money and he offered it “essentially on an understanding” that he could do what he wanted, which led to the offence being committed.

The barrister added that Mukaish accepted the woman did not have that capacity to consent.

Judge Henson told the defendant that the offer of money “reinforces your attitude of sexual entitlement”.

The judge said she considered there was a risk of him committing further offences.

She said Mukaish was “clearly a highly intelligent person” with no known mental health or substance misuse issues, but despite this on March 11 “you raped a complete stranger”.

Mukaish previously pleaded guilty to the rape at Lewes Crown Court on April 13.