Sikh cabbie in Australia avoids jail sentence over sex assault charges
July 13th, 2010 - 12:53 pm ICT by ANIBrisbane (Australia), July 13 (ANI): A Sikh taxi driver, who covered his in-car CCTV camera before sexually assaulting a drunken teen, has narrowly escaped serving time in prison.
Harmeet Singh, 34, pleaded guilty in the District Court in Brisbane today to committing sexual assault on November 14 last year, The Courier Mail reports.
The court was told that Singh picked up a woman, then aged 18, and her friend at a taxi rank in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley after the teenagers had been out drinking.
After dropping the girl’s friend off at her home in St John’s Wood, Singh went on to her home at The Gap.
Crown prosecutor Clare Kelly said Singh stopped his Black and White cab before reaching the girl’s home and placed a tissue over his car’s CCTV camera.
He then leaned over and began hugging and kissing, before attempting to assault her sexually. The girl, however, managed to escape and ran home.
Singh was arrested several days later.
Singh is residing in Australia on a spousal visa, while his wife is on a student visa.
His license to drive a taxi was revoked shortly after the incident.
Judge Milton Griffin, SC, sentenced him to 10 months in prison to be wholly suspended. (ANI)
- Indian-origin honeymooning woman raped before murder? - May 14, 2011
- Honeymoon murder: Indian-origin woman may have been raped' - Dec 06, 2010
- British taxis to have spy cameras - Nov 16, 2011
- Indian national jailed for "every woman's nightmare" rape of Oz university student - Aug 25, 2010
- Indian cabbie escapes robbery bid in Australia - Jun 20, 2010
- Police, immigration officers crackdown on Brisbane taxi drivers - Jun 11, 2010
- 'Slut walk' protests begin in Australia - May 28, 2011
- Indian-origin Sikh priest charged for sexually assaulting girl in Glasgow temple - Jan 18, 2011
- Indian origin cabbies in Oz to benefit from 'late night passenger ID' proposal - Jun 25, 2010
- CCTV becomes contemporary citizens' tool for vigil - May 22, 2011
- Two more Indians assaulted in Australia - Jan 22, 2010
- Two plead guilty to attack on Sikh taxi driver in US - Mar 09, 2011
- Man leaps out of moving car to save daughter - May 11, 2012
- Jailed rapist released early assaults again within weeks - Jun 08, 2011
- Two taxi drivers held for killing woman in Delhi - May 14, 2012
Tags: 10 months, black and white cab, brisbane australia, cabbie, cctv camera, courier mail, crown prosecutor, drunken teen, fortitude valley, gap, griffin, jail sentence, november 14, serving time, sex assault charges, sexual assault, spousal visa, student visa, taxi driver, taxi rank