A magistrate has repeatedly ordered a whimpering former Canberra taxi driver to be quiet while jailing the "self-interested" offender over what he described as the "unpleasant groping" of a passenger.
Rahul, a 26-year-old Moncrieff man who apparently has no surname, was sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday to four months in jail.
Magistrate Glenn Theakston directed him to serve half the term behind bars before the balance is suspended.
"Sir, be quiet!" Mr Theakston continually told Rahul, who appeared to be on the verge of tears as he furiously remonstrated with his lawyer throughout the sentencing.
While Rahul pleaded guilty in March 2021 to a charge of committing an act of indecency without consent, it took 16 months for him to be sentenced.
This was because he repeatedly failed to attend court and pre-sentence report interviews, then neglected to act on a stated intention to apply for a withdrawal of his guilty plea.
When it finally came time for Rahul to learn his fate, prosecutor Julia Epstein played to the court five internal taxi camera videos that showed the 26-year-old committing his offence in November 2020.
She said eight separate incidents had occurred in the space of about 10 minutes as Rahul drove the intoxicated victim home from Civic in the early hours of a Sunday morning.
Ms Epstein said these had included Rahul touching the victim's breasts and trying to put his hand up her dress.
The prosecutor told the court the young woman had said "no" after the second of the eight incidents, yet Rahul had ignored her increasingly obvious expressions of discomfort and continued the indecent assault.
Rahul's Legal Aid lawyer, Edward Chen, told the court he did not wish to minimise the offending, but it was "not as serious as the prosecution would have this court believe".
He said there was "nothing nefarious in the inception of the interaction", saying the taxi videos showed the victim reaching out to Rahul first and smoking with him.
Mr Chen added that the woman could be seen twirling her hair, licking her lips, biting one of her fingers and smiling at Rahul, who "thought he was having a lucky night" and that there was "a spark" between them.
However, he conceded that the offender had, at some stage, been reckless as to whether the woman was consenting to the touching, noting her body language had clearly changed as the journey unfolded.
Mr Theakston said while he had observed the same things as Mr Chen, "a mere perception that someone is flirting with you is not an invitation to touch them".
'Merely being pleasant does not equal an invitation for a sexual advance," he added.
The magistrate described the behaviour of Rahul, who moved to Australia from India three years ago, as "remarkable".
Mr Theakston said the offending involved someone in a position of trust taking advantage of a victim who was unable to move away because they were in a moving vehicle.
He also expressed concern about Rahul's attitude to the offence, noting a pre-sentence report said the 26-year-old had "protested his innocence" and displayed "categorically no empathy" for the victim.
"His sole concern is his own fate," Mr Theakston said of Rahul, who was "surprisingly" allowed to continue working as a taxi driver for some time after being charged.
After whimpering and ignoring repeated warnings to stay silent throughout the sentencing, Rahul stood up and told Mr Theakston the victim had refused to sit in the back of his taxi as directed.
"This is my first mistake in my whole life," he said, pleading for "a second chance".
Mr Theakston replied that he had "heard enough", prompting prison guards to move in on Rahul and lead him away.
Rahul will be released from jail in late September and placed on an 18-month good behaviour order.
The court heard he may eventually be deported on bad character grounds, with the 26-year-old's conviction placing his student visa in jeopardy.
