Taxi sex fiend a thief

Alex de Vos
A former taxi driver who sexually assaulted a passenger also robbed others of cash, bank cards and a mobile phone, a Geelong court heard yesterday.
Depal Dhir, 27, of Bell Park, appeared in Geelong Magistrate’s Court on 12 charges including theft, unlawful assault, obtaining property by deception and the indecent assault of a 37-year-old Torquay woman.
The court heard that the victim awoke in a taxi on the morning of June 21 last year to find Dhir sexually assaulting her.
Police believed he picked her up outside Geelong’s Home House nightclub about 4am before driving her to Dickins Road.
“I must have fallen asleep in the back of the taxi…and later woke up to find him on top of me,” the victim told the court.
“He told me we were going to make love.”
The victim said she escaped and ran about 150 metres to Surf Coast Highway where she flagged down a car.
She said she urged the motorist to call police because she feared Dhir would come back to attack her again.
“I had no phone, no bag and I was stressed. I wanted the police to come and remove me.”
The woman told the court she had consumed “some drinks” but was not drunk. She had not planned to catch a taxi home that night.
“My phone was flat at the time and I didn’t want to tell anyone I was leaving Home House because they would try to make me stay, so I caught a cab.”
Sean Ryan, for Dhir, said his client denied sexually assaulting the victim but pleaded guilty to all other charges.
He told the court the victim had failed to give her address and “began kicking the back of the chair and making racist remarks when asked for it,” Mr Ryan said.
The victim told the driver to “f**k off, you’re not getting my money until you take me home”, Mr Ryan told the court.
Dhir had then “helped” the victim out of the taxi, Mr Ryan said.
Magistrate Michael Coghlan found Dhir guilty of all charges and remanded him in custody for sentencing.
“People often use taxis at early hours of the morning because they believe they are safe in doing so,” Magistrate Coghlan said.
“But you have taken (the victim) to a place which was very dark in order to gratify your sexual urges. The impact of your actions have resulted in (the victim) suffering anxiety, panic attacks and nightmares”.