An Uber driver who made sexual advances on two female passengers left one of them feeling "like prey", a court has heard.

The defendant appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Friday afternoon after Judge Ajit Swaran Singh found him guilty of detaining two female passengers and sexually assaulting one of them.

The man, aged in his 30s, pleaded guilty at the outset of his March trial to harassment and a charge under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.

The judge jailed him for three years 10 months but his identity will remain under wraps until a final suppression hearing next year.

The court heard of the profound impact on the women involved.

One victim said she had been left in a "constant state of unease" by her experiences.

"I felt unsafe at home and I felt unsafe in public . . . People noticed a change in me. I became more anxious and less willing to socialise," she said.

"I felt like prey."

The woman told the court she had bought security cameras for her home and left Dunedin in a bid to feel safe.

She acknowledged the defendant's partner and children were also victims of the crimes.

"Their family life has been destroyed," she said.

The other victim also reported living in a constant state of hypervigilance and said she continued to have nightmares echoing her ordeal.

"I've had to drastically change how I live and who I trust," she said in a statement.

The court heard of two incidents which occurred inside the defendant's car came just two months apart in 2023.

The first victim was offered a ride by the man while trying to evade an intoxicated male in Princes St.

The defendant introduced himself as a taxi driver and locked the doors.

During the drive home, she described becoming increasingly concerned as he made comments about her appearance.

The woman told the court he stopped on a patch of gravel near her house and suggested a game of paper-scissors-rock.

The defendant won the impromptu game and requested a kiss from the terrified passenger.

When she tried to appease him with a peck on the cheek, he turned to kiss her mouth.

The victim tried to escape but found the door locked.

The driver only released her when she tried to wind down her window, and she ran home to her husband in tears.

A month later, the defendant obtained her personal details through the city council rates database and repeatedly tried to contact her, the court heard.

Around the same time, he picked up another woman, who had been socialising in central Dunedin and was waiting for a taxi home.

He claimed to be her Uber driver but requested payment when they reached her destination.

When she objected, believing it had been paid through the app, he demanded she bare her breasts.

The court heard the defendant only unlocked the doors when she threatened to cover his back seats in lipstick.

She was unaware at the time the man had been responsible for harassing her for almost a year leading up to the incident.

After giving her a ride in 2022, the defendant discovered the victim's identity and bombarded her social-media account with messages as well as leaving a hand-written letter in her mailbox and contacting her ex, making false allegations.

Counsel Paige Noorland said her client's imprisonment would have a severe impact on his family as he was the bread-winner and "main source of stability" for them.

She also highlighted the fact the defendant had spent three years on restrictive bail conditions.

The court heard there would likely be an appeal against the convictions.