Taxi driver accused of rape claims woman asked him during sex: “Isn’t that on the bill?”

A taxi driver accused of raping two young women claimed that the second asked him during sex: “Isn’t that on the bill?”

The Central Criminal Court heard that the man told police in a prepared statement that the woman, then aged 20, smiled and kissed him during sex. He said she then asked: “Isn’t that on the bill?”

“I thought it was a joke. I said jokingly, ‘No, it’s not,'” he told the gardaí.

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

The first incident reportedly occurred in June 2022, the second in August.

The prosecution is of the opinion that each of the young women found themselves in a taxi after a sociable night in Dublin city centre and was raped by the defendants.

The man, whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, denies the allegations and says all sexual interactions between him and each woman were consensual.

The Central Criminal Court heard that the man was arrested on August 22, 2022, in connection with the alleged rape of the second complainant on August 9 at his home. After being warned, he replied: “I did not rape anyone.”

The woman testified that in the early hours of August 9, after meeting friends, she decided to take a taxi home.

She said she fell asleep during the ride because she was tired and drunk. The next thing she remembered was waking up and the taxi driver raping her. She told the court she neither instigated nor consented to the sex.

The court heard that when questioned, the man gave a written statement to the Garda which was read out to the court.

He said he was working that night and the woman approached him and asked for a ride home. He said they chatted during the ride and the woman told him her phone was dead and that was the only way she could pay.

The man said the woman became quiet and he assumed she had fallen asleep during the ride. He drove around her hometown to increase the fare, which he was ashamed of.

He said he parked the car to check her address and noticed she was awake. She then leaned over and kissed him. He said he returned her kiss and felt “flattered that a younger woman was interested” in him.

He said she agreed when he asked if she wanted him to get in the back seat, where they had consensual sex.

The man told police he got out of the car when they were finished to give the woman a chance to get dressed again, then he drove her home. The man said she laughed on the ride and said, “Whatever I owe you, I’ll pay you.”

He said she went to the house to get a charger and then returned to the car. She took the charger and paid the fare in cash.

The man told police he was “ashamed” of being unfaithful to his partner and that it was “not something I am proud of.”

He said he should not have asked the woman to pay the taxi fare and called it a “stupid move.”

As further evidence, the jury was presented with CCTV footage and location data showing the taxi leaving the woman’s hometown on August 9 and then driving back to Dublin city centre.

The surveillance camera footage shows the man getting out of the car and then sitting in the back passenger seat.

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

Police also confiscated the man’s Samsung phone and a black Nokia phone that was found in the glove compartment during a search of the taxi.

The man gave the Gardaí the password to the Samsung phone and messages of a sexual nature between the man and several other women were found on it.

While the man was in custody, DNA samples were taken and his profile matched DNA identified in samples taken during an examination of the woman.

The jury also heard evidence from a forensic pathologist at the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU), where the woman was examined on the afternoon of August 9.

The witness said the woman told her the man got into the back seat of the car, pulled down her clothes and had sex with her. She also said she noticed several bruises on the woman’s thighs and an internal vaginal injury.

She told the court that there is no physical vaginal injury that can distinguish between consensual and non-consensual sex.

The process continues.