A Muslim Uber driver has been granted bail almost a year and a half after being charged with raping a drunk female passenger in Sydney’s inner west.
Police allege Mohamad Pili-Bake, 49, picked up the woman when she finished work at 7am on Sunday, May 5, and drove her to her home where he tried to kiss her
She allegedly texted her boyfriend for help from inside the car, but Pili-Bake allegedly began to kiss her without consent before driving her to a carpark and allegedly sexually assaulting her in the back seat.
He was arrested five days later on McCrossin Avenue in the 25% Muslim suburb of Birrong, charged with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of sexually touch another person without consent, and refused bail.
Pili-Bake has since pleaded not guilty to all three charges, and on Tuesday had a bail application granted with 14 conditions by Supreme Court Justice Sarah Huggett, with no opposition from the prosecution, Newswire reported.
“The crown case statement is before the court and it reveals that the accused was an Uber driver who had picked the complainant up to drive her to a location,” Justice Huggett said.
“She was reasonably intoxicated when it is alleged that the accused committed the three offences. The complainant made an immediate complaint to her partner, ‘Help. Uber outside’.
“In circumstances where the Crown case suggests that the accused was an Uber driver and he committed sexual offences, it is alleged against a passenger who appears to have been intoxicated, in my view the public safety is a heightened consideration in the (bail) application.”
Mr Pili-Bake will face trial in February next year.
Header image: McCrossin Avenue, Birrong (Google Maps).
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