Posted on the 19th February 2026 in PHTM News

FORMER DONCASTER PH DRIVER JAILED FOR 20 YEARS AFTER HISTORICAL RAPE CONVICTIONS

A private hire driver described as a "monster" has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping a vulnerable teenage girl and a woman in separate attacks.

Riyasth Hussain, 45, was convicted of three counts of rape following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

The offences, which took place in Rotherham between 2004 and 2008, were uncovered as part of major investigation, Operation Stovewood, into historical child sexual abuse.

The court heard harrowing details of how Hussain targeted a 13 or 14-year-old girl in 2004, once driving her to an empty industrial estate where he pulled her out of the cab and raped her and later plying her with alcohol before raping her.

In a powerful victim impact statement, the woman told Hussain: “When you met me, I was just a fragile, vulnerable little girl who you could easily abuse. Today I'm a woman and my only goal is justice.” She added, “You stole my childhood, now I'm taking your freedom.”

A second victim was raped by Hussain in a bedsit in 2008. In a statement read to the court, she said she could “never forgive what this monster has done to me,” noting that he had “completely ruined my life.”

Sentencing Hussain on February 19, Judge Sarah Wright told the defendant that "the harm and the wider harm you have caused is of unimaginable proportions," adding that the damage to the victims' lives "cannot and never will be repaired."

Hussain, a father of three from Doncaster with a criminal record involving robbery and firearms, was brought to justice through the efforts of the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service. Liz Fell, specialist CPS prosecutor, said: "The cruelty and abuse the victims suffered at the hands of Hussain was horrific, causing a lasting impact on their lives today.

Prosecutors praised the "tremendous courage" of the victims for coming forward. Judge Wright also paid tribute to the women, stating they had shown "the upmost courage" to ensure their "voices have now been heard."


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