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A Dunedin Uber driver allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted two of his passengers, a court has heard.
The defendant, aged in his 30s, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this morning for trial after pleading not guilty to two counts of kidnapping, two of indecent assault and one of harassment.
The man has interim name suppression.
At the hearing's outset, the defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment and one under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
The court heard, the driver was booked through the Uber app to pick up a couple from a South Dunedin pub in September 2022.
Days later, the defendant set up a fake Facebook profile, featuring the photo of a younger bearded man, listed as being from Christchurch.
Over the next 10 months, the man contacted the woman from the taxi ride dozens of times.
“Do I know you?” the victim replied to his initial advances.
When the defendant claimed to be living in Dunedin, the woman told him not to contact her again.
But it had little effect.
In September and October 2022, the defendant dropped two handwritten letters in the victim’s letterbox, signed with his pseudonym – one said he was seeking new friends, another had a more sexually explicit tone.
The court heard in 2023 the man also contacted the woman’s former partner making false allegations regarding the victim.
While the defendant accepted the stalking-type crimes against the woman, he denied an alleged kidnapping from June 2023.
She told the court today she was out in town for a night of dancing when she attempted to book a ride home through the Uber app.
She was mistaken and had not made a booking but was picked up in the Octagon by the defendant, failing to recognise him as the driver from the previous year.
When they reached the destination, the man allegedly asked for payment.
The woman replied that it would be processed automatically through the app; she tried the door but said it remained locked.
The man then allegedly asked her to show her breasts, and when she declined, he turned around in his seat to face her.
She described the defendant “grabbing” at her and said she raised her leg to block him.
Under cross-examination, 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 backseat,” the witness said.
She told the court it was only then that the defendant unlocked the doors and she fled.
The court also heard from a second woman who was picked up by the defendant in April 2023.
He pulled over in Princes St while she was being harassed by an unknown male, introduced himself as a taxi driver and gestured for her to get in, she told the court.
“I genuinely thought he felt quite concerned,” the woman said. “I didn’t pick up anything different other than he was trying to help.”
During the drive, the complainant recalled becoming increasingly uncomfortable as the defendant complimented her appearance and said he was enjoying her company.
The woman said her concerns were elevated when the man stopped on a patch of gravel short of her home.
“At this point I remember feeling fear because I thought I wasn’t going to get out of the car,” she said.
The defendant allegedly suggested a game of paper-scissors-rock – the winner would get what they wanted, he said.
The complainant said she reluctantly agreed to play along, lost consecutive games and 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 and kiss her cheek and neck as she recoiled.
The driver allegedly rolled his vehicle 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.
A month later, the driver allegedly obtained her personal details from the Dunedin City Council rates database and sent her a friend request on Facebook.
He continued to send her unsolicited messages until the woman blocked him, the court heard.
Counsel Paige Noorland said the defence would revolve around whether the alleged indecent assaults happened and whether the complainants were actually unlawfully detained.
The trial before Judge Ajit Swaran Singh is scheduled to conclude this week.