LONDON - A LONDON taxi driver was found guilty on Friday of sexually assaulting a string of women passengers whom he plied with champagne laced with sedatives after saying he had won money at casinos and on the lottery.

Retired stripper John Worboys, 51, drugged his victims before pouncing on them in the back of his black cab.

He was found guilty of attacking 12 women passengers, one of whom was raped, during a series of assaults dating from October 2006 until early 2008.

Media reports said police suspected he could have committed attacks on up to 85 women across London and in other areas of the country.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission also said it would investigate why Worboys had been arrested by detectives in 2007 but released, allowing him to commit more offences.

Croydon Crown Court heard how Worboys preyed on women he picked up in London's West End and in Kensington, looking out for those who had been drinking and offering them cheap or even free lifts home.

Once in the cab, Worboys spun them a story of how he had won money on the lottery or at a casino and showed them a carrier bag full of cash.

He would offer them a glass of champagne or other alcoholic drink to help him celebrate as he said it was his last fare of the night.

But the drinks were mixed with powerful sedatives that left his victims powerless to stop him sexually assaulting them.

Prosecutors said the experienced hackney cab driver, from Rotherhithe, southeast London, targeted 14 women in total over 18 months until his arrest in February last year.

Many of the victims were left with little memory of their ordeals and could only recall falling asleep in the back of the vehicle before waking up at home.

But some were left with flashbacks and vague memories of Worboys sitting beside them and adjusting their clothing.

One woman remembered being raped, a second woke up to find him with his hand up her skirt and a third said he exposed himself, the Press Association reported. -- REUTERS