Driver said he was ‘stupid’ to offer girl a lift

Aug 1 2008 by Hilary Clixby, The Journal

A CONVICTED rapist accused of posing as a taxi driver to kidnap a teenager for sexual purposes told a court yesterday he had done no more than foolishly offer her a lift.

Andrew Beal denied he had been cruising Newcastle looking for a vulnerable female to sexually assault when he saw the 19-year-old in Mosley Street in the city centre in the early hours of February 24 this year.

The 39-year-old of Breamish, Ellington, Northumberland, said he was unaware the teenager was drunk and denied pretending to be a taxi driver to lure her into his VW Passat car or that he had any sexual intent in mind.

But he told Newcastle Crown Court he accepted with hindsight that offering a young woman a lift had been “stupid” and “totally foolish” .

Beal, who has a conviction for raping and indecently assaulting a young woman in 1996, denies kidnap and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence. The court has heard how Beal had travelled no more than a few feet when he was stopped by police alerted by a genuine taxi driver who saw the teenager get into the Passat and blocked in his car.

CCTV footage showed he had been in the Newcastle area for two hours – stopping a number of times – before he saw the teenager, who was in fancy dress after an evening out with friends.

Giving evidence, Beal, who works as a delivery driver, said he had driven to Newcastle hoping to meet up with a work colleague although no specific arrangement had been made.

He said he first became aware of the teenager in Mosley Street sitting on a bollard and thumbing a lift. He claimed the teenager got straight into the back of the car, saying nothing to him except for her address.

He said the manner in which she got in was “typical of someone getting into a taxi” and he had turned to her and told her he was not a taxi driver and did not know the address. Beal said a white sheet covering the back seat of the Passat was there to keep the car clean when his partner’s dog was in the vehicle. He also said spanner found in the car, and which the prosecution allege was intended as a weapon, was to open the garage door. The trial continues today.