Taxi driver jailed for eight years for attacking three women
A RAPIST taxi driver who sexually assaulted two passengers and twice attacked a family friend in her own home has been jailed for a minimum of eight years.
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A RAPIST taxi driver who sexually assaulted two passengers and twice attacked a family friend in her own home has been jailed for a minimum of eight years.
Bendigo cab driver Robert Byrnes, 46, first sexually molested a passenger in October 2012, repeatedly groping the woman before she gave a wrong address and fled the taxi, the County Court heard on Thursday.
Less than an hour later he picked up another woman who had been out with friends celebrating a 21st birthday.
After again forcing himself on to his passenger, Byrnes placed his cap over the vehicle’s internal CCTV monitor, parked the cab and raped the woman, the court was told.
Judge Gerard Mullaly, in sentencing Byrnes to a maximum of 10 years and six months, said his victim had been terrified that she might be killed.
After the crimes came to light, a third victim complained to police about Byrnes forcing himself on to her at her family home, on one occasion while her young son was present.
The lives of each of his victims had been severely damaged, the court heard.
Placing the offender on a lifelong sex offenders register, Judge Mullaly described Byrnes’s conduct as a gross violation and undermined the right for women to go out safely on social occasions and to expect safety in taxi travel.
“This sort of fear is corrosive to our sense of community,” he said.