Delivery driver who raped ‘vulnerable’ woman in Worthing Hospital car park is jailed
The defence said the woman had asked the man for money and having offered it, he thought that meant he could do what he wanted
Last updated 23rd Jun 2026
A delivery driver who raped a stranger in a car park after she had left hospital has been jailed.
Suleman Mukaish, 27, was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison and a further three years on extended licence at Hove Crown Court today for the attack on a vulnerable woman in Worthing, West Sussex, on March 11.
Mukaish was arrested two days later at Gatwick Airport with a one-way ticket to Pakistan.
Footage released by Sussex Police shows officers ask to see his passport and then place him under arrest, to which Mukaish replies: “Why, sir?”
The court heard on the evening of the attack, the victim had attended Worthing Hospital “intoxicated, confused and unsteady on her feet” and then left.
Prosecutor Chetna Patel said she was grabbed by the arm by the defendant and taken to the car park opposite the hospital.
She was attempting to hold on to the wall to stop Mukaish, but he forced her towards a vehicle and raped her, the prosecutor said.
The victim was left there and found by a member of the public a short time later, and said she had been raped.
The police were called and the woman was able to identify the car where she was attacked, where hand and fingerprints were found.
Sentencing Mukaish, Judge Christine Henson KC said the woman “was at her most vulnerable when you, a complete stranger, raped her over the bonnet of a car in the car park adjacent to the hospital that she had just left from”.
“The impact psychologically on (her) has been immense”, she said.
The court heard the woman was fearful of contracting HIV after the attack by a stranger and is no longer able to return to the hospital because of flashbacks of the assault.
Mukaish had entered the UK on a student visa with graduate leave until 2028, and has no previous convictions, Ms Patel told the court.
In mitigation, the court heard Mukaish came to the country with good prospects, highly educated, hard working and was working multiple jobs at the time.
According to his defence counsel, Mukaish’s account was he was working in his job as a delivery driver when he saw the woman in trouble and stopped to assist her, but then it is clear he “takes advantage of a woman in a very vulnerable position”.
He said that Mukaish’s account is that she asked him for money and he offers it “essentially on an understanding” he can do what he wants, which leads to the offence being committed.
The barrister added that Mukaish accepts the woman did not have capacity to consent.
Judge Henson said of the defendant the offer of money “reinforces your attitude of sexual entitlement”.
The judge said she considers there is a risk of him committing further offences.
She said Mukaish is “clearly a highly intelligent person” with no known mental health or substance misuse issues but despite this on March 11 “you raped a complete stranger”.
The court heard that when Mukaish was interviewed by police he prepared a statement strenuously denying the allegation of rape.
Footage released by Sussex Police also shows him giving “no comment” answers during the interview.
Mukaish, of Cambridge Road, Worthing, then pleaded guilty to the rape at Lewes Crown Court on April 13.
At that hearing the court heard he studied computer science and passed his Master’s.
He was cycling from work to his home when the attack took place, the court previously heard.