Gujinder Singh: Hornsby restaurant owner sentenced to jail for raping intoxicated woman

A North Shore restaurant owner has been locked up after violently raping an intoxicated “friend” after a birthday party - and filming the crime.

The Downing Centre. Picture: Nikki Short

A North Shore restaurant owner violently raped a family friend and filmed the ordeal after telling the woman he wanted to marry her while they attended a birthday party.

Hornsby man Gujinder Singh, 33, will spend up to seven years behind bars after being convicted of sexual assault.

Singh never confessed to his crimes. He was instead found guilty by a jury of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, two counts of recording an intimate image without consent, and one count each of aggravated sexual assault and sexual touching.

Singh is due to stay in prison until at least late 2027.

In Downing Centre District Court on Friday, Judge John North said Singh “clearly knew” the victim did not consent.

Singh met the victim almost a decade ago and they soon became friends, quickly becoming “like family”.

He married another woman in 2018, but developed romantic feelings for the victim, the court heard.

In 2022, Singh attended a birthday party with the woman and other attendees.

CCTV footage showed the victim was heavily intoxicated by the end of the night – she was seen falling into a gutter near her car at one point.

Singh, who was not drunk, drove the victim home while touching her hand and telling her he wanted to marry her. He reached under her skirt and touched her.

Singh was sentenced at the Downing Centre. Picture: Nikki Short

Judge North said the woman passed out on her bed and woke to “strong jerks” as Singh removed her clothes.

“She said she went into a frozen state,” he told the court.

Singh raped the victim as she went in and out of consciousness, despite her repeatedly saying no.

The court heard the victim screamed in pain and was left suffering bleeding and bruises.

Singh was found to have filmed some of the attack and a jury rejected his explanation that footage represented “accidental shots”.

The victim was described as “clearly vulnerable and defenceless throughout” the attack.

Judge North said the offending was a serious example of sexual assault.

He said the woman “was clearly vulnerable and defenceless throughout”.

Singh was described in the court as a man of prior good character, who was born in India and immigrated to Australia on a student visa in 2014.

He was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison, with a four year non-parole period.

The sentence was backdated to when Singh first entered custody. The earliest he could be released is December 2027.