The Metropolitan Police logged a total of 70 arrests leading to charges between January 2023 and December 2025, where the suspect’s occupation was listed as a taxi or minicab driver

Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash

New data shows that recorded sex offences by taxi or minicab drivers have more than tripled in three years.

According to a Freedom of Information request by Sexual Abuse Compensation Advice, the Metropolitan Police logged a total of 70 arrests leading to charges between January 2023 and December 2025, where the suspect’s occupation was listed as a taxi or minicab driver.

In 2023, the force recorded ten total offences – this figure more than doubled to 26 in 2024, before climbing further to 34 in 2025.

While there were no recorded offences committed by on-duty cabbies against those in the back seat in 2023, there were six the following year.

However, that disturbing figure rose to eleven passenger-related sex offences in last year alone. Those offences ranged from one count of exposure, to another count of the rape of a woman aged 16 or older.

The Met Police also recorded seven counts of sexual assault on a female and a further two of assaulting a female aged 13 or over “by penetration with part of body or a thing”.

Of the 70 total charges across the three years, 17 were committed directly against passengers during a journey. The remaining 52 offences were committed outside of work – 31 of which were for rape, with a further three attempted rapes.

The figures also revealed that on 19 occasions, licensed cabbies targeted children, with the Met Police recording two counts of raping a girl aged between 13 and 15 – both of which took place in 2024.

Just last year, a taxi driver was arrested and charged with causing / inciting a girl under 13 years old to engage in sexual activity by penetration.

The remaining 22 offences recorded against off-duty cabbies in 2025 include: one count of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, each of the previously mentioned attempted rape cases, two counts in engaging in sexual communication with a child, seven counts of rape, eight of sexually assaulting a female and one of sharing a photograph or film of a person in an intimate state intending to cause alarm distress or humiliation.

Other chilling offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police across the three-year period included gross indecency with a child, indecent assault on a girl under 14 and assaulting a boy under 13 by touching.

A spokesperson for the force said: “The Met is committed to tackling sexual violence and abuse across the city.

“We are delivering major improvements in how we support victims of sexual offences throughout active investigations, providing more than 23,000 officers and staff with bespoke training and rolling out enhanced victim services to increase the quality of our communications.

“Providing better support for victims, while expanding specialist teams to relentlessly pursue the highest risk predatory men, has seen stronger outcomes for victims and survivors, with the Met tripling charges for rape and serious sexual offences.”

They continued: “As part of our work under Operation Soteria, we are working tirelessly to build confidence and encourage victim survivors to come forward and report sexual offending to us.

“We will continue to work closely with TfL [Transport for London], BTP [British Transport Police] and local partners, recognising that lasting safety on all aspects of the capital’s transport network requires a coordinated, city-wide response.”

24/7 Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Line is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year – call 08085002222 or visit the website to start a free online chat

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