Courts

Taxi driver accused of rape says woman asked ‘was this off the bill?’ during consensual sex

Fifty-year-old has pleaded not guilty to rape of woman on August 9th, 2022, and further denied rape and anal rape of another woman the previous June

Central Criminal Court: It is the State’s case that two young women found themselves in a taxi after separate nights out socialising in Dublin city centre and that each was raped by the accused.
Eimear Dodd
Tue Jun 11 2024 - 20:06

A taxi driver accused of raping two young women claimed the second complainant asked him “was this off the bill” while they were having what he termed consensual sex.

The Central Criminal Court heard the man told gardaí in a prepared statement that the then 20-year-old woman was smiling and kissing him while they had sex. He said she then asked, “Was this off the bill?”

“I thought it was a joke. I said ‘No, it’s not’ in a joking manner,” he told gardaí.

The 50-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the rape of this woman on August 9th, 2022. He has further denied the rape and anal rape of another woman the previous June.

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It is the State’s case that each young woman found themselves in a taxi after a night out socialising in Dublin city centre and that each woman was raped by the accused.

[ Taxi driver accused of rape told gardaí interaction was consensual ]

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies the allegations and says that any sexual interaction between him and each woman was consensual.

On Tuesday, the Central Criminal Court heard the man was arrested at his home on August 22nd, 2022, in relation to the alleged rape of the second complainant on August 9th. He replied “I didn’t rape anyone” after caution.

The woman had previously told the court that she had not instigated sex nor consented to it.

The court heard the man provided a written statement to gardaí when interviewed which was read to the court on Tuesday.

In his statement, read out by prosecuting counsel Gerardine Small SC, the man “categorically denied” the allegation of rape and said all sexual contact with the woman was consensual.

He said he was working on the night in question and the woman came to his taxi asking whether he would take her to her home town. He agreed and she got into the back of the taxi.

He said they chatted during the journey, with the woman telling him her phone had died and it was the only way she could pay. He said he told her she could charge the phone when she got home and then pay him.

The man said the woman became quiet and he assumed she had fallen asleep during the journey. He said he drove around her home town to increase the fare, which he felt ashamed of doing.

He said he parked the car to check her address and noticed she was awake. She then leaned forward and kissed him.

He said he kissed her back and “felt flattered a younger woman was interested” in him.

In other evidence, the jury was shown further CCTV footage and location data showing the taxi leaving the woman’s home town and making its way back into Dublin city on August 9th.

A Garda analyst gave evidence that in footage shown to the jury on Tuesday, the taxi was stopped for about seven minutes at the location where the alleged rape of the complainant took place.

This CCTV footage showed the man getting out of the car and into the rear passenger side seat.

Just over six minutes later, the man left the vehicle and returned to the driver’s seat.

The witness agreed with Lorcan Staines SC, defending, that the location data recorded the taxi stopping outside the woman’s house for about eight minutes.

Gardaí identified the vehicle’s registration from CCTV and the taxi was seized in the days after the alleged incident occurred.

DNA samples were taken from the man during his period of detention, and his profile matched DNA identified on samples taken during an examination of the woman.

The jury also heard evidence from a forensic examiner at the sexual assault treatment unit (SATU) where the woman was examined on the afternoon of August 9th.

The witness outlined that the woman told her that the man got into the back of the car, pulled down her clothes and had sex with her.

She also said she observed a number of bruises on the woman’s thighs and an internal vaginal injury. She told the court there is no physical vaginal injury that can differentiate between consensual and non-consensual sex.

The trial continues.