A rapist taxi driver has been back in front of a judge after he set up social media accounts in false names after buying himself a new mobile phone.

Khalile Maqsood was made subject of two indefinite court orders to curb his behaviour after he was jailed for more than eight years for a knife-point rape of a customer.

A judge raised major concerns over his social media activity which came to light when he failed to attend his annual signing of the sex offenders’ register and suggested he buy himself a calendar and stay off the dark web.

The 43-year-old set up accounts on social media platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram as soon as he picked up his new mobile phone last year.

Philip Morley, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court how it was surprising that police hadn’t contacted him for a month after he failed to attend the annual signing given the serious nature of the defendant’s initial conviction.

He added: “The officer said that the accounts had been set up for a number of months and that is something that he accepted during interview.”

In 2012, Maqsood was convicted of raping a woman in Billingham while he was working as a private hire taxi driver.

He was operating a minibus at the time and committed the offence after picking up the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

He drove her to an isolated car park near Billingham town centre, at about 2.30am, where he produced a knife and threatened to use it if she did not do what he wanted.

The Northern Echo: Khalile Maqsood pictured in 2012Khalile Maqsood pictured in 2012

Maqsood, of Stanley Walk, Stockton, pleaded guilty to seven failures to comply with his notification requirement order following his arrest December last year.

Nicci Horton, mitigating, said there was no evidence of her client accessing barred material but conceded that there were elements of stalking a previous partner after he bought the mobile last October.

Judge Chris Smith urged the defendant to pick up a calendar to ensure that he remembers to sign on the register as and when required.

He added: “You failed to sign the notification requirement because you forgot - I’m sceptical about that as forgetting coincided with some troubling behaviour.

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“You were using a number of aliases on a variety of social media platforms.”

Maqsood was told that his indefinite SHPO and notification requirement orders would continue but with the addition of barring him from the dark web.

He added: “I don’t want him to be looking on the dark web, there’s nothing good to be found there.”

The convicted sex offender was given a ten-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to attend 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.