Police charge Blackburn man with rape following 'taxi' attacks

33 year old Nazim Asmal has been remanded in custody

Author: Louisa KingPublished 13th Jun 2023

Detectives investigating a series of rapes across Lancashire have charged a man.

The Rape and Serious Sexual Offending (RASSO) Team launched an investigation into the allegations which cover incidents in Darwen and Preston involving three separate women. All three women reported getting into what they believed was a taxi, before being subjected to serious sexual assaults.

Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, we charged Nazim Asmal, 33, of Balaclava Street, Blackburn, with a number of offences. They include rape, sexual assault and committing an offence with the intention of committing a relevant sexual offence.

Asmal appeared before Blackburn magistrates this morning and was remanded into custody. He will appear before a crown court judge on July 11.

DI Darren Irving, of East CID, said: “Although we have charged a man, our investigation is very much ongoing. If you have any information which you believe is relevant to this investigation I would ask that you call 101, quoting log 691 of June 13, 2023.” Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.