Defence claim police have the ‘wrong man’ in Uber driver rape case

An Uber driver kept a teenager’s licence “as a trophy” after he allegedly raped her in the back of his car, a jury has been urged to find.

Sakaria Taufao has pleaded not guilty to raping the 18-year-old woman in Ipswich in 2015. Photo: Facebook.

A jury has been urged to find that an Uber driver kept a teenage passenger’s driver’s licence “as a trophy” after he raped her on the back seat of his car.

Sakaria Taufao, 50, is on trial in the Brisbane District Court and has been accused of raping the 18-year-old after deliberately turning off his ride-share app and driving her down an isolated “dirt road” at Redbank Plains in 2015.

Queensland Police discovered the teenager’s driver’s licence in Mr Taufao’s BMW sedan two years after the alleged crime and prosecutor Michael Gawrych said this was “crucial evidence” in the case.

Ipswich Uber driver Sakaria Taufao is on trial in the Brisbane District Court. Photo: Facebook

“That licence links him to her in circumstances where they are not otherwise known to each other,” Mr Gawrych said during his closing statements on Thursday.

“This card was a trophy.”

Mr Taufao allegedly convinced the young woman to let him drive her to Fortitude Valley after he saw her walking home from Club Metro at Ipswich around midnight on September 5, 2015.

He then allegedly drove her down Austin Street and demanded the teenager “get in the back seat” before raping her and ejaculating on the ground outside his vehicle.

During the trial, two of the teenager’s friends and her brother took the stand, telling the jury that she had confided in them at separate times about the alleged sexual assault.

The court heard she had described the man as being of solid build, with dark skin, an accent and who she believed was of “Indian” descent.

Sakaria Taufao has denied raping the 18-year-old woman. Photo: Facebook

Mr Taufao, who moved to Australia from Samoa, denied raping the teenager and his barrister Dominic Nguyen told the jury on Thursday that police “had the wrong man”.

Mr Nguyen said there was “no evidence” to suggest Mr Taufao was the man who had allegedly raped the teenager and accused the police of conducting a “narrow investigation”.

“It would be ludicrous to suggest that Mr Taufao would have been the only person in and around the Club Metro area on the evening of the Friday,” Mr Nguyen said.

“And I suggest he would not have been the only Uber driver working in and around the … area at that time.”

But Mr Gawrych told the jury that Uber records of Mr Taufao’s movements that night and the fact that he had logged off during the window of time that the teenager alleged she was raped, proved otherwise.

“This is a strong case ladies and gentlemen and sufficient for you to find the defendant guilty beyond reasonable doubt,” Mr Gawrych said.

The trial continues before Judge Michael Burnett.