Taxi driver found guilty of indecently assaulting passenger on way home

Wednesday, 12 October 2016

An Auckland taxi driver says he kissed and touched a drunk teenage passenger as a sign of 'gratitude and respect'.

A court heard that Javeed Hameedi, 40, locked the doors of his taxi before indecently assaulting a drunk teenager on her way home from a night out on November 15 last year. 

He denied one charge of indecent assault and said he was simply trying to strike up a friendship with the complainant. However, he was found guilty at a judge alone trial at the Auckland District Court on Wednesday. 

Although Hameedi's lawyer Yoon Lee dismissed the woman's story as 'imagination', security footage of the car ride was introduced to the court as evidence, which Judge Heather Simpson said showed the complainant was 'nervous and uncomfortable'. 

'There is no doubt in my mind that having seen the CCTV footage, Mr Hameedi did assault (the victim) and I'm further satisfied that the assault was indecent,' Judge Simpson said. 

The 18-year-old complainant gave evidence that she was picked up in the early hours of the morning on Fort St in central Auckland, when Hameedi agreed to take her to the Auckland suburb of Saint Johns for $20. 

She was 'drunk but not that drunk' and noticed Hameedi covered his ID tag when she jumped in the front seat, she said. 

En route to her home she claimed he began talking about sex and drugs, which made her feel 'really uncomfortable'. 

'He was saying stuff like, 'oh you look like a Russian girl, I love your smile, do you have a boyfriend? Do you do drugs?' 

'He was saying, 'You're 18, you want to experience new things.' I was kind of freaking out.' 

When they arrived at her address she claimed he locked the taxi doors, undid his seatbelt and proceeded to hug and kiss her on her face, legs and arms. 

'He felt me up everywhere. It was pretty gross,' the woman told the court.

She said she was a little bit drunk and suffering from a head cold which made her feel 'weary and weak'. 

'I couldn't think straight,' she said. 'I didn't know how to react best.'  

She said she objected and told Hameedi to let her go, but he allegedly responded, 'I'll let you go if you give me a hug.' 

When she told him she was going to vomit she said he unlocked the doors of the car, and she took off her high heels in preparation to run away. 

She claimed Hameedi got out of the car and ran to her, before pushing her against the car and continuing the assault. 

Afterward, she said, 'He asked if we could do it again sometime. 

'I think he was a bit delusional about it.' 

Giving evidence in his defence, Hameedi said for most of the journey they spoke about drugs. 

He denied ever taking drugs before, but said they began speaking about whether they could smoke marijuana at her home. 

CCTV footage later captured him stroking her shoulder and leaning over to kiss her.

The complainant said he kissed her thigh, but Hameedi said it was her knee.  

He told the court he had asked her if they could smoke drugs in her house but she had said no and suggested one day in the future. 

Hameedi stroked the complainant to reassure her, he said. 

'I was saying, 'it's going to be alright'…I was trying to say, it's OK, what about now - trying to convince her it's OK, should we do (drugs) now.' 

He kissed her knee as a sign of gratitude and respect and believed they had struck up a friendship, he said.

That was in response to her 'warmth' and the 'closeness' they shared on the 10-minute ride, he told the court. 

Afterward they got out of the car, at which point CCTV footage couldn't capture them, and he said he asked the woman for a hug.  

Hameedi's lawyer Yoon Lee described the woman's story as 'imagination' and said the complainant's evidence was inconsistent with the security footage. 

'His intention was friendship and the rubbing and the kissing the knee is a sign of respect and a sign of friendship. He had no intention of indecently assaulting the passenger.' 

That was rejected by Judge Simpson, who said the footage clearly showed the woman retreating from Hameedi. 

Accordingly she found him guilty of the charge, and a sentencing date was set for November. 

Lee said he would be seeking a discharge without conviction for his client.