Sex offences committed by taxi drivers operating in Britain’s capital have tripled in just three years, shock new data has found. The grim reality of the rapid increase in predatory behaviour has been revealed through a Freedom of Information request that found 70 arrests leading to charges were made by the Met Police between January 2023 and December 2025, where the suspect’s occupation was listed as a taxi or minicab driver.

And the findings in Greater London reflect a growing national concern regarding the vetting processes for taxi and private cab licenses. Currently, licensing standards can vary significantly between different local authorities, leading to calls for a more unified, stringent approach to driver background checks. Earlier this year the Express revealed how taxi drivers were operating as military style surveillance units to provide grooming gangs with “rapid response intelligence” on victims. This comes after numerous grooming cases across the north of England involved cab driver networks. In 2023, the Met recorded 10 total offences – this figure more than doubled to 26 in 2024, before climbing further to 34 in 2025.

The data also shows that the number of taxi drivers raping and sexually assaulting passengers almost doubled in a single year.

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. And that disturbing figure rose to 11-passenger-related sex offences in the last year alone.

And that disturbing figure rose to 11-passenger-related sex offences in the past year year alone. Those offences ranged from one count of exposure, to another count of the rape of a woman.

Britain’s biggest force also recorded seven counts of sexual assault on a female and a further two of assaulting a female aged 13 or over “by penetration”.

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 dark figures, uncovered by Sexual Abuse Compensation Advice, also revealed that on 19 occasions, licensed cabbies targeted children, with the Met Police recording two counts of rape involving 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 or 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 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.

Ellie Lamey, of Sexual Abuse Compensation Advice, warned the figures show a pattern that “cannot be ignored”

She said: “These disclosures highlight a deeply concerning breach of public trust. Passengers place their physical safety entirely in the hands of drivers within an isolated, enclosed environment.

“To see licensed professionals exploiting this dynamic is unacceptable. The trauma of an assault in a taxi can be devastating, yet many survivors feel too intimidated or frightened to report the abuse.”

“This data must be a wake-up call for licensing boards. We need universally stringent vetting and robust safeguarding measures so passengers can travel without fear, and perpetrators face absolute accountability.”

A spokesperson for the Met 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.

“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, BTP and local partners, recognising that lasting safety on all aspects of the capital’s transport network requires a coordinated, city-wide response.”

For confidential help, the 24/7 Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Line offers free phone and online chat for anyone aged 16+ in England and Wales. Call 0808 500 2222 or visit 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk.