The defendant, aged in his 30s, is on trial before the Dunedin District Court facing allegations related to two passengers in incidents two months apart.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of kidnapping, two indecent assaults and one charge of harassment and will retain interim name suppression until at least the end of this week’s hearing.
Counsel Paige Noorland said it was accepted the defendant had given the two women rides to their respective homes, but she asserted the alleged attacks did not happen.
She also said the question of whether the women were ever unlawfully detained should be at the forefront of Judge Ajit Swaran Singh’s mind.
The first complainant said she had been socialising with friends in Dunedin in April 2023, when an intoxicated man confronted her on the street.
The defendant was passing and introduced himself as a taxi driver, gestured at her to get in and locked the doors before the man could enter, too.
‘‘I genuinely thought he felt quite concerned,’’ the woman said. ‘‘I didn’t pick up anything different other than he was trying to help.’’
But during the drive home, the complainant recalled becoming increasingly uncomfortable as the driver complimented her on her appearance and said he was enjoying her company.
She told the court her panic spiked when he stopped on a patch of gravel down the road from her house and suggested a game of rock-paper-scissors.
The winner would get what they wanted, the defendant allegedly said.
The complainant said she reluctantly agreed to play along, but lost consecutive games.
The driver requested a kiss.
‘‘I thought actually it might be better if I just give this guy a kiss on the cheek — he might let me go,’’ the woman said.
She described how the taxi driver quickly turned his face to kiss her on the mouth then proceeded to try to kiss her cheek and neck as she recoiled.
The woman told the court she repeatedly told the man she was married and her husband was waiting at home. She said she tried the door handle, but it was locked.
The driver allegedly continued slowly towards her home as the compliments continued.
‘‘The behaviour was quite scary, very controlling,’’ the woman said. ‘‘I didn’t think he was actually going to stop the vehicle. I thought he was going to take off with me inside.’’
She said the man only unlocked the doors when she attempted to wind down her window, allowing her to bolt to her house.
Under cross-examination, the woman accepted she could have used her phone to call for help, but was terrified of the consequences if she had.
The complainant’s partner also gave evidence yesterday, describing his wife as ‘‘very hysterical ... uncontrollably crying and shaking’’ when she got inside their home.
‘‘He kissed me, he tried to touch me, he locked me in the car, I tried to get out,’’ she repeatedly told him.
A month later, the driver allegedly obtained her personal details from the Dunedin City Council rates database and repeatedly contacted her through social media.
In June 2023, the defendant was again in his taxi when he picked up another woman.
She mistakenly believed she had booked an Uber after a night of dancing and entered the vehicle thinking it was her pre-arranged ride home.
When they reached the destination, the man allegedly asked for payment.
She said she replied it would be processed automatically through the app; she tried the door, but it remained locked.
The man then allegedly asked her to show her breasts.
During cross-examination, the complainant denied the assertion by the defence the suggestion of a lewd show had been hers.
She told the court she declined, which prompted the driver to turn to her in the back seat.
She described the defendant ‘‘grabbing’’ at her and said she raised her leg to block him.
The woman said she was unsure whether the driver had actually touched her.
‘‘I told him to let me out of the taxi or I’d put lipstick all over his back seat,’’ the witness said.
She told the court it was only then the defendant unlocked the doors and she fled.
At the outset of the trial yesterday, the man pleaded guilty to criminal harassment and a charge under the Harmful Digital Communications Act in relation to the second woman, which covered dozens of advances towards her over a 10-month period.
The judge-alone trial is expected to conclude tomorrow.
