A TAXI driver, who raped a Basildon teen who fell ill during a night out, has been jailed for eight years.

The 17-year-old victim passed out after drinking too much while out with friends in Romford.

She was helped into a cab by street pastors and door staff in February 2012.

But little did they know the cabbie, Nicolae Talaba, was a predator who took advantage of the girl’s drunken condition and raped her after stopping the car near her home address in Basildon.

Romanian-born Talaba, formerly of Mawney Road Romford, carried on working after the attack in February 2012 but he was arrested when he returned to England  after a holiday in Romania in July 2012.

He was found guilty of one count of rape after a six-day trial at Southend Crown Court and jailed for eight years.