'Fake taxi driver' rapist who preyed on woman he picked up in Northern Quarter has freedom bid rejected

A bakery worker who pretended to be a taxi driver before 'abducting' and raping a drunk woman he found on the street has been refused permission to appeal against his conviction.

Ernesto Lusadisu, then 35, was jailed for 12 years in December 2021 after he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault following a trial at Manchester Crown Court the previous month.

His sentencing hearing was told he came to the UK from Angola as a teenager in 'tragic' circumstances and was out driving his car in the early hours on a Saturday morning when he spotted his victim, a woman in her 20s.

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She was slumped on a step on the pavement after a night out in the Northern Quarter, her phone had lost charge and she'd lost her friends.

The court heard Lusadisu parked his car on a back street and offered her a lift. She was unable to walk without help, and at one point Lusadisu appeared to have her in a 'headlock' as he forced her into his car.

The judge, Recorder Kate Blackwell QC, said this was 'clear evidence' she believed that Lusadisu was a taxi driver. Once inside, he refused to take her home, and instead brought her to his flat and locked the door, it was said.

Traces of cocaine were later found in her system, but it was unclear whether it was taken 'willingly' or if it had been 'administered by another' the court heard. Prosecutors said the victim rarely drank and feared she'd been spiked, because she is 'frightened' of drugs and had never knowingly used any before.

In the bedroom of his flat, Lusadisu was found to have sexually assaulted then raped his terrified victim, even as she told him to stop. In a bid