by Julia Roberts

An unlicensed taxi driver is facing a lengthy jail term after being found guilty of raping a drunk woman after she staggered out of a nightclub and got into his car.

Nathan Gifford, 46, who had earlier been working as a taxi driver, admitted sexual contact with the woman but claimed she initiated it.

However, a jury at Maidstone Crown Court found him guilty of rape after deliberations which lasted more than 15 hours.

Earlier, the seven women and five men had been asked by Judge Philip Statman to remain faithful to their oath after claims of "bullying" among themselves.

Gifford, of Colehall Close, Senacre, Maidstone, was remanded in custody until he is sentenced on August 3.

He had denied rape and an alternative offence of assault by penetration.

During the trial the jury was shown CCTV of the woman leaving Bliss nightclub in Gillingham on the evening of December 23 last year.

At one point she was seen slumped on the pavement and tests later showed she would have been almost three times the legal drink-driving limit.

As she walked along Canterbury Street, Gifford drove past, parked and crossed the road to talk to her as she sat on the ground.

He helped her to her feet and put his arm around her as they walked along the road.

After she slumped to the ground again, Gifford returned to his car, drove up to the woman and then, with the help of a passer-by, put her in his car before driving off.

Prosecutor Brett Weaver said the woman could recall dancing with her friends in the club, and then being in the front passenger seat with her leggings pulled down and a man on top of her.

She told the court: "I was trying to push him off, but he was too strong. My leggings were down by my ankles. I didn't have any underwear on because the leggings are see-through.

"I was just saying: 'No, please let me go.' He was trying to have sex with me. I haven't got any concept of time. It felt like a lifetime."

She described kicking at the car windows to try to smash them to get out. The next thing she recalled was running up an alley and telling two young men she had been raped.

Gifford claimed he and the woman kissed and she touched him over his trousers before she started to pull down her leggings.

He alleged that she had pushed his hand down to touch her. "She never pushed me away at all. I never forced her down. She didn't say no at all."

He added that she was "maybe a little worse for wear" but he did not think she was drunk.