How the hell does someone “illegally access” Deliveroo’s platform, put on Deliveroo kit and start operating as a Deliveroo rider? That isn’t an explanation. That’s the scandal. To anyone seeing Salem Rekoub, he looked like a delivery rider. He was wearing the kit. He was apparently able to operate through the system. Deliveroo now says he wasn’t verified and had “abused” its systems. He then went on to rape a woman while wearing Deliveroo kit. You don’t get to say: he wasn’t really one of ours and move on. How did he get access? Whose account was he using? How did your security fail to detect him? And most importantly: how many more are there? Deliveroo owes its customers a duty of care over the safety of a service that sends people directly to their homes. These riders know where we live. They come to our front doors, sometimes late at night. Women living alone open the door to them. Families open the door to them. Taxi and private-hire drivers face extensive identity, licensing and criminal-record checks. Yet here we have a man Deliveroo says wasn’t even verified apparently operating in its uniform and through its system. And I regularly see delivery riders in my area, roaming the streets in full balaclava, even in peak summer. Deliveroo saying it is now “putting systems in place” isn’t enough. This needs a full audit. How many unverified people have accessed the platform? How widespread is account sharing? Can Deliveroo identify every person currently delivering under its name? If it has grown its network beyond its ability to control who is actually using it, reduce the number of riders until it can. And if Deliveroo cannot guarantee that the person it sends to your front door is the person it has verified, then it should cease trading until it can. You don’t get to send strangers to people’s homes, discover your verification system can be circumvented and say, effectively, “Oops, sorry.”