A FORMER CAB DRIVER has gone on trial in London on charges of sexually abusing and robbing over a dozen elderly people in London over a span of 17 years.

The mystery attacker was dubbed the ‘Night Stalker’ because he targeted vulnerable people in their homes at night, the PA reports.

The Telegraph reports that the Night Stalker’s ‘hallmark’ was to remove light bulbs, turn off the electricity and cut phone wires to improve his chances of escaping.

Delroy Grant, 53, of Brockley Mews, Honor Oak, south London, denies 29 offences including three counts of rape, six of indecent assault, one of sexual assault and 16 burglaries.

The charges relate to offences committed between October 1992 and November 2009.

Today prosecution lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw said it was impossible to understand the motive behind the attacks and said the attacker’s sexual interest was not confined to women. He added:

Those who were too frightened to resist or protest were attacked. Where he experienced resistance and where his elderly victims refused to be compliant, they tended to be left alone.

The court heard that Grant was interrupted when trying to enter an 86-year-old woman’s home in November 2009 and was arrested when he attempted to escape from the scene, according to the BBC.

[caption id="attachment_96119" align="alignnone" width="511" caption="Court sketch of former minicab driver Delroy Grant at the Old Bailey in London in June 2010. (Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)"][/caption]