A Deliveroo rider who had no legal right to work in the UK has been sentenced to 21 years in prison after dragging a woman from the street and raping her.
After the brutal attack, which left his victim saying she felt “destroyed”, Salem Rekoub, 28, was filmed on CCTV wearing his turquoise delivery uniform and appearing to smirk as he followed her ambulance to hospital. Prosecutors said he wanted to “get to the woman again”.
A judge described Rekoub as a danger to the public. He had entered Britain on a tourist visa in 2023 and was not permitted to work in the UK.
Isleworth Crown Court heard that Rekoub targeted the woman, who is in her 40s, after finding her “semi-conscious” at a bus stop.
He dragged her into a side road in Chelsea, west London, and attacked her in a gap between parked cars in July 2024.
The assault lasted 17 minutes. During that time, the woman drifted in and out of consciousness while Rekoub repeatedly warned her: “You need to be quiet.”
She was left with 33 bruises across her body.
Rekoub later called 999, but prosecutors said he fed emergency operators a “pack of lies” in an attempt to mislead them about the attack.
Deliveroo rider Salem Rekoub, 28, who was not legally entitled to work in the UK, has been jailed for 21 years for raping a woman
CCTV captured Rekoub moving through Chelsea and Westminster Hospital after following his victim there by ambulance, reportedly trying to “get to the woman again”
He told a paramedic that the woman had consumed “too much to drink”. He then gave police a false name and claimed he was merely a concerned passerby.
Rekoub followed the ambulance to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where CCTV showed him walking through the corridors and looking into triage rooms as he tried to locate his victim.
When a hospital employee questioned him, Rekoub replied: “I’m here to find someone.”
As the woman began to recover, she was able to tell paramedics what had happened. Rekoub was arrested nine days later.
The court heard that the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had remained in “an almost catatonic state” since the assault. She has suffered seizures and spent time receiving treatment at a mental health facility.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, she said: “This has destroyed my life and I am not the same person.
“It has killed me and made me feel worthless. I tried to take my own life because I felt like I could not cope.
“I have been left in a constant state of fear. I couldn’t escape because he told me to be quiet and had his hands around my throat.
“I have been left completely numb and dissociated. I have begun to have seizures and my speech has become slurred.”
The court heard that the woman had been out with friends before taking a bus home. She got off early after feeling unwell and later passed out at a bus stop, where Rekoub found her.
Following a trial by jury, Rekoub was found guilty of three counts of rape, and two counts of assaulting a female by penetration.
His defence told the court he had been a promising footballer who was almost selected for the Algerian team, but a knee injury had cut short his career.
A Deliveroo spokesman said: ‘We are appalled by these truly horrific crimes and our thoughts are with the victims and their families.
‘This individual was not a verified rider on our platform, but a criminal who abused our systems to gain access illegally.
‘We have since significantly strengthened the measures to control who can access our platform – and continue to invest to combat any abuse.’
