Uber driver sentenced for raping sleeping passenger

UBER driver Muhammad Naveed pulled over for condoms and a bottle of water before raping sleeping passenger, trial hears.

Uber driver Muhammad Naveed has been sentenced to jail. Picture: John Grainger

A SYDNEY Uber driver who raped a drunk female passenger who fell asleep in the back of his car has been jailed for a maximum of nine years.

Muhammad Naveed, 41, was sentenced to a minimum of six years and four months in prison at the Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday for raping the 22-year-old in October 2015.

Naveed, who picked the victim up from Kings Cross and raped her in a side street in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, will be eligible for parole in June 2023.

Uber driver Muhammad Naveed has been jailed for raping a 22-year-old passenger who fell asleep. Picture: John Grainger

The trial heard the victim had been drinking with friends before getting into what she thought was a cab to go home.

But the driver had other ideas, and stopped off at a service station for condoms and a bottle of water.

After pulling over in a side street, Naveed asked his passenger if she wanted to move into the back seat.

“The complainant will tell you at this point she could not keep her eyes open and she was falling asleep,” crown prosecutor James Trevallion said during the trial.

The woman woke to find Naveed on top of her.

“She did not have enough strength to push him off,” Mr Trevallion said. Naveed was arrested a few days later and told investigators it was “consent sex”.

He later testified the woman had asked him for sex but they didn’t have intercourse because he couldn’t get aroused.