A 38-year-old former Uber driver has been sentenced to 46 months in prison after being found guilty of kidnapping, indecent assault and criminal harassment involving two women in Dunedin. His name will remain suppressed for now as he intends to seek permanent name suppression.
According to a report by Stuff, the man appeared before Judge Swaran Singh in the Dunedin District Court on Friday for sentencing. Judge Singh declined media applications to photograph the defendant in the dock, citing his indication that he would apply for permanent name suppression.
During the hearing, one victim read her impact statement, describing the driver's actions and what she called an “insidious online campaign of harassment”. She spoke of living with a persistent “feeling of being watched” and said she had installed security cameras after he told her he had masturbated outside her windows, Stuff has reported.
The harassment, which continued over 18 months, left her anxious and fearful both at home and in public. Reflecting on the night the driver picked her up, she said she did not know what might have happened had she not managed to get out of the vehicle.
“I felt like prey.”
She told the court that she had informed her family and workplace about the ordeal before eventually leaving Dunedin because “I wanted to feel safe again”, as quoted by Stuff.
The victim also said the offender had placed his sexual behaviour ahead of his own family.
“I am not the only victim of the offender’s action”, Stuff has quoted.
The second victim's impact statement was read out by Crown prosecutor James Collins. She described the lasting impact of the incident, saying: “I still have nightmares to this day,”
The court heard that she continued to experience intense anxiety when alone or travelling, while the trial had added further stress to her life.
According to Stuff, Collins told the court that the kidnapping was only one part of the man's offending. He said the messages sent to the first victim before the kidnapping, along with letters delivered to her home, demonstrated a disturbing pattern of behaviour and premeditation.
The defendant had pleaded guilty to harassment and harmful digital communication charges before trial. He was subsequently found guilty of four further charges, including kidnapping, indecent assault and criminal harassment, Stuff has reported.
How the offending unfolded
The court heard that the case began on September 18, 2022, when one of the victims and her partner booked an Uber ride to their home. The driver later created a fake Facebook account and sent the woman several messages, claiming he had found her name by searching for local people.
After she blocked him, he delivered two handwritten letters to her address. In the first, he claimed he wanted to be friends. The second contained disturbing claims that he had watched the woman and her partner having sex in their lounge and had looked over their fence while masturbating, as reported by Stuff.
He apologised in the letter, saying he was lonely and wanted a friend. Using the same fake profile, he also contacted the woman's partner and made false claims about her. The partner later informed her about the message, prompting her to connect the account to the Uber driver.
The woman and a friend subsequently secretly recorded a conversation with the driver, during which he falsely claimed to live in Wellington, as reported by Stuff.
In June 2023, the same woman booked another Uber from Dunedin's Octagon. The driver approached her in his vehicle and asked where she was going. She became suspicious and asked him to drop her near her street.
When he demanded payment, she explained that she had already paid through the app. He insisted the app was not working, while the woman found that the rear door remained locked when she tried to open it, as reported by Stuff.
The driver then demanded that she show him her breasts as payment. When she refused, he attempted to grab her leg. She threatened to damage his car with lipstick unless he unlocked the doors, and he eventually released her.
A separate incident involving another woman occurred on April 16, 2023, when the driver picked her up in central Dunedin. The pair agreed on a cash fare.
During the journey, he called her “pretty” and “beautiful” and said he enjoyed talking to her. He then suggested they play a game of rock, paper, scissors, telling her that if he won, he would get what he wanted.
He said she could kiss him on the cheek but turned towards her, resulting in her kissing him on the mouth. The victim later described his behaviour as “scary”, Stuff has quoted.
As the vehicle approached her home, she heard the door unlock and immediately jumped out. Weeks later, the driver contacted her through a fake profile. She took screenshots of the messages, and in a follow-up message, he confirmed that he was the driver.
The court ultimately sentenced the 38-year-old to 46 months in prison, as reported by Stuff.
ISSUE
Leave a Comment