A young woman falsely accused an innocent taxi driver of rape after she lost her mobile phone and became separated from her friends during a drunken night out, a court heard today.
The woman wrongly told police the driver had stopped his cab at the side of the road and sexually assaulted her in the back seat whilst he was giving her a lift home at the end of the evening, it was said.
Detectives investigated the woman's claims during which they arrested Haroon Yousaf and also the driver of a different taxi with a similar number plate.
A 27-year-old woman has denied perverting the course of justice after she wrongly accused taxi driver Haroon Yousaf, 29, of raping her in the back of his cab after a night out in Manchester City Centre in January 2017. Minshull Street Court, pictured, heard Mr Yousaf could have faced prosecution had he not been exonerated by a tracker in his car which cleared him of any possible wrongdoing
The woman had been drinking with friends at Revolution bar in Deansgate, Manchester on the night she made the false allegation
Mr Yousaf, 29, who was detained in front of colleagues at a cab rank spent a total 20 hours in custody and had to give intimate samples before he was released without charge and exonerated of any wrongdoing.
It was claimed police suspected he had been falsely accused when he gave details of a tracking device linked to the black cab which showed the vehicle had been driven straight to the woman's home in Greater Manchester without stopping. There was also no evidence of physical contact between them.
The other suspect was also cleared of any wrongdoing and the woman was subsequently charged with faking her account. Details emerged at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, as she denied perverting the course of justice.
Prosecutor Geoff Whelan said: 'If it were not for that tracker data Mr Yousaf may have found himself on trial for rape because the defendant made up a story about him.
'Perhaps only the defendant knows why she would fabricate such an allegation, but make it up she did. A false allegation is a very serious matter.
'She accepts that she was in Mr Yousaf's taxi and she accepts that he drove her home. She further accepts that Mr Yousaf did not rape her - but says, somehow that she honestly believed she was raped whilst in that taxi.'
The incident occurred on January 7 2017 after the woman, from Greater Manchester, had been out with friends at Revolution bar at the Deansgate Locks complex in Manchester city centre. Mr Yousaf had just dropped off a fare when she got into his vehicle at 1.10am and asked to be taken home.
Mr Whelan added: 'She appeared to be drunk as she did so and said she just wanted to go home as she had lost her friends and her mobile phone. She said she had £20 and asked how much it was going to be. Mr Yousaf gave her an estimate of about £25 and she asked to be taken to a bank.
'Mr Yousaf drove her to a Tesco Express where CCTV footage showed the taxi stopping there at 1.22am with the
