Amponsah Thompson ‘prowled’ the streets in his Mercedes searching for vulnerable teenagers on nights out
Amponsah Thompson, of Rocky Lane, aged 29(Image: Merseyside Police)
A serial sex offender who “prowled” the streets in his Mercedes searching for vulnerable teenagers on nights out left his victims feeling “unsafe in their own city” and suffering from nightmares of being trapped in a taxi. Amponsah Thompson subjected three women to a series of depraved sexual assaults, including preying upon one lone teen who he found slumped on the ground before taking her back to his home and raping her as she drifted in an out of consciousness.
The “sexual predator” also posed as a taxi driver in order to lure one of the women into his car in before attacking her in the back seat. He repeatedly raped a third woman and threatened her with a knife.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that the first complainant, an 18-year-old woman, had been on a night out in Liverpool city centre in August 2024 and was “very drunk”, having visited Heebie Jeebies and Lost in Seel Street with friends before leaving alone shortly after 2am. Thompson’s white Mercedes was seen passing what was then Alma de Cuba, since reopened as St Peter’s Tavern, where she approached the vehicle and asked if he was a taxi driver.
David Polglase, prosecuting, described how the 29-year-old “lied and pretended that he was”. The teenager entered his car expecting to be taken home but he drove to his own address on Rocky Lane in Tuebrook, where he climbed in the back of the car and sexually assaulted her.
Thompson “stopped what he was doing” and drove her home when she pretended that her family were phoning her and claimed she had shared her location with them. She then “insisted on giving him money” for the journey, which police later used to trace him via transfers she had made into his bank account.
In a statement which was read to the court on her behalf, she detailed how she “used to feel safe in Liverpool and happy to go out with friends”. However, she now does so less often and never goes out alone, having also been left “anxious and hyper aware” when travelling in taxis.
Mr Polglase added: “She spoke of being trapped in dreams in a taxi, taken to a warehouse and chased by the driver and waking up crying due to those dreams. She described herself as being a more anxious and wary person, suspicious of strangers and feeling unsafe in her own city.”
Having been released on bail, Thompson targeted another “extremely drunk and vulnerable” 18-year-old who had been out in central Liverpool in December 2024, visiting a JD Wetherspoon pub, McCooley’s and Soho before becoming separated from her friends. He was seen “escorting her back to his vehicle” at around 3.30am, after she was seen “crouched or slumped by a wall”. She recalled “zoning in and out of sleep” and being raped, waking up at his flat the next day before being taken home by her attacker.
Thompson, who was said to have been “essentially prowling on both occasions”, later claimed this sexual activity had been consensual when questioned. In her own victim person statement, she said that she “was happy before the incident and out of her shell” but, as a result of the “rollercoaster of emotions”, she now “feels scared to do things alone and go out on her own” and is “not the person she was before”.
Mr Polglase said: “She thought that the old version of her had gone. She said she changed forever..”
As investigations continued, Thompson raped a third woman an estimated “six or seven times”, having also apparently subjected her to violent assaults and threatened her with a knife. She was “beaten and forced into sexual assaults against her will”, Mr Polglase said of her account: “It has affected her sense of trust in people and security. “She has had flashbacks, intrusive memories and trauma symptoms. She feels she has changed.”
While Thompson has no previous convictions, he was previously investigated in relation to an incident in January 2024 when he was alleged to have sexually assaulted a lap dancer, but the woman withdrew her complaint. Mr Polglase added: “We say that this defendant is manipulative. He is a sexual predator. He has little or no regard for the boundaries of and consent for sex.”
Anthony O’Donohoe, defending, told the court: “Prior to these matters, the defendant was a man of good character with no previous convictions. His immigration status is currently that he has leave to remain, but that is subject to review.”
Thompson admitted sexual assault against his first victim and three counts of rape against the third, having been convicted of one charge of rape against the second complainant by a jury following a trial. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a white Puma t-shirt on Monday, he was jailed for 23 years and handed an additional eight years on licence.
Sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings KC said: “My own assessment, having regard to all of the circumstances of the offences, is that you are a dangerous offender, and there would remain a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm at the point that you would have otherwise served a fixed term sentence. It may be that you will be considered by the appropriate authority for deportation. I make no order in that regard. It is a matter for that appropriate authority to consider.”
Thompson will be required to serve at least two thirds of the 23-year period behind bars before becoming eligible for release by the Parole Board. He was also told to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.