A fake Uber driver has been found guilty by a jury of kidnap, attempted rape and sexual assault for the second time after his original convictions were overturned on appeal.
Graham Head, 68, cruised the streets of Brighton posing as an “unofficial Uber” to pick up “vulnerable and intoxicated” women he could abuse, Lewes Crown Court was told.
When Head was arrested in November 2022, he had latex gloves, condoms, Viagra tablets and a balaclava in his silver Mercedes estate.
At his home, police found business cards saying “N-Uber driver” and emblazoned with the slogan “Safe and Reliable – For All Occasions” under one of his phone numbers.
Head was originally convicted by a jury at Hove Crown Court in July 2023 and given a 23-year sentence for the kidnap and attempted rape of a 25-year-old woman and for carrying out a sex attack on a 19-year-old woman.
In November 2024, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction after Head complained about the judge who presided over the original trial.
Today (Thursday 19 June), he was convicted of all charges again after a jury of seven men and five women deliberated for eight hours at Lewes Crown Court.
They were told that Head, of Coast Road, Pevensey Bay, was a “sexual predator” who “slipped up” the night he was arrested by police.
He claimed to have offered the 25-year-old a lift home and said that he had not touched her and that he had never met his other victim.
Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, said: “The defendant is a sexual predator. Basing himself in Pevensey and ostensibly working as an unofficial Uber driver or taxi driver.
“He was also looking for vulnerable young women who he could sexually abuse.
“He carried Viagra and condoms with him, either on his person or in his car, as well as latex gloves. He would use the latex gloves to minimise the risk of leaving traces of his DNA on his victims.”
Head had two mobile phones and was “savvy enough” to know that if he kept them on while he was driving, his movements would be recorded so he kept them in flight mode while cruising for victims, the court heard.
The two attacks are said to have taken place in the early hours of Friday 19 August 2022, in Hove Park, and Friday 18 November 2022 near the alleged victim’s home, also in Hove.
Mr Jarvis said: “In August 2022, she (the first victim) was 19 years old. When she was, we say, intoxicated and vulnerable in the early hours of the morning, the defendant sexually assaulted her in Hove Park.
“In November 2022, she (the second victim) was 25 years old. When she was also vulnerable and intoxicated in the early hours of the morning, Mr Head kidnapped her and sexually assaulted her in his car and then drove off leaving her distressed on the roadside.
“On both occasions, the defendant was driving his grey Mercedes estate motor vehicle with the registration number L21 GRH.”
The 25-year-old was able to remember the “L21” part of Head’s number plate which led to police pulling his car over and arresting him the same night, jurors were told.
Head slipped up in November 2022, Mr Jarvis said, adding: “His victim was alert enough to be able to memorise part of the licence plate for the police to be able to identify his car when they saw it.”
The 25-year-old had been on a night out and had consumed alcohol and cocaine, the court was told.
Her account is that a man pulled up alongside her and told her that he was an Uber driver who had just finished his shift but would give her a free ride home.
A journey from Middle Street, in Brighton, after the victim left Monarch Bar, to a spot close to her home in Hove was found after an analysis of the satnav in Head’s Mercedes.
Mr Jarvis said: “He offered to give her a life home but his real plan was to drive around until he was satisfied she was fast asleep so he could sexually assault and rape her.
“He drove close to her home address and tried to rape her in the back seat of his car but she came to and kicked him away.”
The 25-year-old has since died.
Judge Christine Laing, the honorary recorder of Brighton and Hove, remanded Head in custody to be sentenced on Friday 22 August 2025.
