Sexual predator posed as taxi driver before raping multiple women

Amponsah Thompson was bailed under investigation for assault – and went on to do it twice more

A serial sex offender who “prowled” the streets of Liverpool city centre in his Mercedes looking for vulnerable teenagers on nights out has been jailed for 23 years.

Amponsah Thompson posed as a taxi driver in order to lure one of the women into his car before assaulting her in the back seat, the Liverpool Echo reported.

The “sexual predator” then preyed upon another lone teen, who he found slumped on the ground, before taking her back to his home and raping her. He also repeatedly raped a third victim and even threatened her with a knife.

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Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday (April 13) that the first complainant, an 18-year-old woman, had been on a night out in the city centre in August 2024 and was “very drunk”, having visited several bars before leaving alone shortly after 2am.

At this time, Thompson’s white Mercedes was seen passing what was then Alma de Cuba, since reopened as St Peter’s Tavern, where she approached the vehicle and asked the defendant if he was a taxi driver.

David Polglase, prosecuting, described how the 29-year-old “lied and pretended that he was”, at which stage the teenager entered his car expecting to be taken home. But he instead drove the woman to his own address on Rocky Lane in Tuebrook, where he joined her in the rear seats and touched her between her thighs.

However, Thompson “stopped what he was doing” and drove her home when she pretended that her family were phoning her and claimed she had shared her location with them. She was then said to have “insisted on giving him money” for the journey, with police later able trace him via transfers she had made into his bank account.

When interviewed, Thompson denied he had pretended to be a taxi driver and had stopped at his address in order to collect his identification, having apparently been intent on returning to the city centre. He meanwhile maintained he had not entered the back seat of his car and stated he had no physical contact with the victim.

Having subsequently been released on bail under investigation, Thompson then targeted another “extremely drunk and vulnerable” 18-year-old who had been out in central Liverpool in December 2024, visiting several bars before becoming separated from her friends.

He was then seen “escorting her back to his vehicle” at around 3.30am, having previously been “crouched or slumped by a wall”, after which she recalled “zoning in and out of sleep” and being raped, waking up at his flat the next day before being taken home by her attacker.

Thompson, who was said to have been “essentially prowling on both occasions”, later claimed this sexual activity had been consensual when questioned by detectives. Throughout 2025, as investigations into his earlier crimes continued, he then raped a third woman an estimated “six or seven times”, having also subjected her to violent assaults and threatened her with a knife.

Mr Polglase added: “We say that this defendant is manipulative. He is a sexual predator. He has little or no regard for the boundaries of and consent for sex.”

Amponsah had no previous convictions but was previously investigated over an incident in January 2024 when he was alleged to have sexually assaulted a lap dancer. However, this did not result in any charges after the woman withdrew her complaint.

Anthony O’Donohoe, defending, told the court: “Prior to these matters, the defendant was a man of good character with no previous convictions. His immigration status is currently that he has leave to remain, but that is subject to review.

“I simply ask that the sentence is as short as is consistent with your honour’s public duty. It may well be that an extended sentence would be condign and allow further supervision and licence in the community upon eventually release, by extension to what will doubtless be a significant custodial sentence.”

Thompson admitted sexual assault against his first victim and three counts of rape against the third, having been convicted of one charge of rape against the second complainant by a jury following a trial. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a white Puma t-shirt, he was jailed for 23 years and handed an additional eight years on licence.

Sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings KC said: “My own assessment is that you are a dangerous offender, and there would remain a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm.

“It may be that you will be considered by the appropriate authority for deportation. I make no order in that regard. It is a matter for that appropriate authority to consider.”

Thompson will be required to serve at least two thirds of the 23-year period behind bars before becoming eligible for release by the Parole Board. He was also told to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.