An Indian illegal taxi driver has been spared jail for exposing himself to a female passenger in Adelaide, saying he wanted to be paid in sex for the ride, performing a sex act in front of her, and assaulting her as she got out.
Manvir Singh, 26, faced the South Australia District Court on December 19 where he was given a three-year good behaviour bond by Judge Jane Schammer who ordered him to take a government-funded English language course for new migrants, attend therapy, and banned him from driving passengers for work.
The court heard Singh, who initially lied to police after being arrested in 2023 before suddenly pleading guilty to indecent assault and assault, came to Australia on a student visa in 2018 and completed a Diploma of Business and a Diploma of Automotive Mechanics despite having “limited English language skills”.
Singh, despite not being authorised to operate a taxi or rideshare vehicle, was working as an unauthorised driver for cash fares in North Adelaide when his 18-year-old victim and a friend got into his car in the early hours of June 25, Judge Schammer said in sentencing.
“Both girls were intoxicated and were friendly towards you. You claim that as a result, you falsely believed that the victim was sexually attracted to you, and amenable to sexual activity. You acknowledge that you were gravely mistaken about this,” the judge said.
“As you drove away, you pulled your penis out and placed the victim’s hand on your erect penis. … The victim immediately pulled her hand away and started yelling at you. You responded by saying that you wanted sex in exchange for giving them a ride, and when the victim said no, you began to masturbate.”
The victim jumped into the back seat and started filming, and Singh tried to snatch the phone before eventually pulling over and stabbing the victim with a car key or a pocketknife as she got out of the car, the court heard.
The victim told police she was stabbed with a blunt pocketknife, but Singh maintained he pushed a car key into her abdomen, and Judge Schammer said that because the knife allegation was one that would have had to be proven by the prosecution, he was sentenced on the basis that he used a car key.
When Singh was arrested he told police the girls had threatened to make false allegations against him unless they gave them money, and Judge Schammer noted Singh spent three or four hours in police cells, telling him it “was a very distressing experience for you, as you had never previously been under arrest or in such a position”, resulting in “momentary thoughts of suicide”.
She also noted that Singh was now in a relationship with his first serious girlfriend, a nursing student who he intends to marry, and that he hopes to remain in Australia on a dependent visa and start a trucking business. He is currently on a bridging visa while working full-time as a food delivery driver.
Judge Schammer said that because indecent assault was a serious sexual offence, a custodial sentence could not be suspended, served in home detention or as an intensive corrections order, resulting in her making the “very difficult decision” to give Singh a good behaviour bond in the sum of $500 instead.
“I consider that it is imperative that you get appropriate treatment to address the multiple likely causes of the offending. Such treatment is unlikely to be available in custody,” she said.
“I also considered that if a custodial sentence was imposed, it would ultimately have been for a period insufficient to enable me to set a non-parole period.
“In my view, [a good behaviour bond] gives you a better chance of rehabilitation than requiring you to serve a relatively short jail term without the benefit of release under any conditions or supervision.”
She based her decision partly on a report from forensic psychologist Dr Loraine Lim who found Singh’s offending could be explained by his “sexual naivety and immaturity”, and said she accepted “there may have been both language and cultural issues at play”.
The court heard that Dr Lim said Singh only appeared to show a “superficial level of remorse”, but the judge determined that may have been because of Singh’s “limited command of English”, with Dr Lim noting the assessment was difficult to conduct and that a friend acting as an interpreter was “noticeably embarrassed when required to translate certain words”.
“Notwithstanding Dr Lim’s concerns about your insight, she considered that the likely risk of you reoffending and in particular any further sexual offending was in the low range,” Judge Schammer told Singh in sentencing.
“She considered it very important that you participate in courses and treatment to ensure that you are better able to understand and apply concepts relating to healthy boundaries, sexual consent and emotional regulation.
“You clearly need the benefit of therapy as outlined by Dr Lim. You need to develop a better awareness of appropriate behaviour, sexual boundaries and consent. You also need to improve your communication and language skills.”
Header image credit: Efrem Efre – Pexels.
The post Indian illegal taxi driver spared jail for sex attack on passenger in Adelaide first appeared on The Noticer.
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