Toowoomba cabbie Tariq Ali found guilty of sexually assaulting drunk woman

The lawyer for a Toowoomba taxi driver found guilty of sexually assaulting a drunk woman he picked up from the Cube Hotel, said if his client was deported he and his wife would likely be killed.

Taxi driver Tariq Ali leaving the Toowoomba Courthouse after pleading not guilty to allegedly sexually assaulting a woman who got into his cab. Picture: News Regional Media

After a three-day trial, a jury found a Toowoomba taxi driver guilty of sexually assaulting a passenger after he picked her up from the Cube Hotel on a winter morning in 2020.

The Toowoomba District court heard the driver, Tariq Ali, entered the woman’s home and followed her to the bedroom, where he climbed on top of her, pinned her to the bed, and kissed her all over her face and neck.

The court was told Ali was on a bridging visa and if Judge Paul Smith sentenced him to more than a 12-month jail term he would be deported to north India.

Barrister Kevin Kelso said Ali and his wife, who together had an Australian-born son, never planned to return to their home country because they would likely be killed.

“It is very hard for people who are born into such a privileged country such as Australia to understand this, but there is a great risk of death should they go back and be caught having a … intercultural marriage,” he said.

Mr Kelso said Ali was Muslim and his wife was a Sikh.

Taxi driver Tariq Ali leaving the Toowoomba Courthouse after pleading not guilty to allegedly sexually assaulting a woman who got into his cab. Picture: News Regional Media

The court was told Ali followed his wife, a nurse, to Australia in 2014 and his visa was dependent upon hers.

Mr Kelso said Ali’s main job was at a Toowoomba powder coat firm, and he worked as a cabbie on weekends, however, he hadn’t worked as a driver since the assault.

Crown prosecutor Emily Coley submitted Ali should serve six months of a 12-month sentence behind bars.

Ms Coley noted the victim had been through a lot during the trial and had to go through the experience of cross-examination where she was called a liar.

A small portion of the woman’s victim statement was read to the court.

“I have been burdened with feeling shame, disgust, and helplessness following the event which was emotionally exhausting and has made me feel and believe life will no longer return to what I had previously,” she wrote.

Mr Kelso noted the woman’s victim impact statement alluded to the woman having experienced trauma before the incident, and had always been a highly emotional person.

Mr Kelso submitted his client be sentenced to a four to six-month jail term but wholly suspended with no time served.

Judge Smith said Ali had shown no remorse for his actions, and it was a serious breach of trust and privacy.

“People need to be protected from cab drivers who do this,” he said.

“I’ve read (your) references carefully and I think this offending does seem out of character … it was crazy that you did this.”

Judge Smith sentenced Ali to a six-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, after he served seven-weeks behind bars.

Earlier – day one:

The cabbie, Tariq Ali, pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual assault at the Toowoomba District Court on Monday afternoon.

During the first day of the trial, a jury was selected before they heard an opening statement from Crown prosecutor Emily Coley, on what police allege occurred in 2020.

Ms Coley told the jury the woman ordered a taxi after Cube Hotel staff found her alone, drunk, and upset in the toilets at closing time.

Mr Ali arrived in his taxi at about 3am and drove the woman to her Toowoomba home.

During the trip, the woman became visibly upset over an early incident involving her then ex-boyfriend, and Ms Coley said it was alleged that Mr Ali offered her comfort in the form of a hug while they were in the cab.

The court was told Mr Ali got out of the cab at the woman’s home and again hugged her, this time on the footpath.

Picture David Clark

Ms Coley said Mr Ali then walked the woman into her home and put her to bed, which is where he allegedly climbed on top of her and began kissing her while she cried.

The court was told the married man left after the woman said no, but had attempted to get her phone number.

Ms Coley said investigating officers found the woman’s number saved in Mr Ali’s phone under her name, except she had given Mr Ali the wrong number by changing the last digit.

After Mr Ali left, the woman then texted the allegations to three of her friends, two of which raced to her home and urged her to make a police report – one of them was her ex-partner.

Ms Coley told the jury some of the evidence they would review was footage from the cab ride, and a forensic scientist who analysed a swab of the alleged victim’s face and said it was a possible salvia match.

Barrister Kevin Kelso will be representing Mr Ali during the three to four day trial.

The 45-year-old also had the support of his wife, who sat in the back of the court during proceedings.

The court was closed to the media and the public for most of the Monday proceedings, while the alleged victim gave her evidence.

Day two:

On Tuesday, day two of the trial, the jury heard evidence from the alleged victim’s friends, ex-partner, officers who worked the case, and a forensic scientist.

While being questioned by Ms Coley, the woman’s then ex-partner said when he arrived at her house to check in on her, she was upset, disappointed and told him she had been assaulted and forcibly pushed onto the bed.

He also said she was very emotional and wanted support, and when he left hours later, the woman’s friend was still there with her.

Text messages between the pair that night were shown to the court and showed the woman was upset after seeing him leave with another woman.

The Toowoomba Courthouse. Picture: File

During cross-examination, barrister Kevin Kelso asked the ex if he had sex with the woman earlier in the day before the pair ran into each other at the Cube Hotel.

He said he had, but they were not ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ at the time nor after the alleged incident.

Toowoomba CIB Senior Constable Ashley Rider took the stand as she and her partner were called to the alleged victim’s home on the morning of the alleged incident.

Her body camera footage was shown to the court.

In the footage, the alleged victim apologised to the officers and admitted to still being drunk. She also said she did not remember every detail of how she got from the cab to her bed.

The woman told officers she didn’t think too much about it at first as it was ‘just a sleazy’ cabbie.

The court was told the alleged victim told the officers that during the cab ride, Mr Ali asked her a number of personal questions, including whether or not she lived alone.

She said she kept apologising to the cabbie for being so emotional.

In footage played to the court, the alleged victim also told officers she was scared when Mr Ali allegedly put her on the bed and pinned her, and that she did not know what to do so she pretended to be more drunk and dizzy.

The woman is also heard in the video saying Mr Ali was very forceful about getting her phone number while he allegedly lay on top of her.

At the end of the recording the then duty officer, Senior Constable Rider, spoke to the woman about getting some sleep before she spoke with the investigators, and not the touch her keys, as Mr Ali was alleged to have touched them and they were needed for forensic testing.

The woman was also told she could shower.

The trial continues.

Day three

On day three of the trial, Wednesday, March 8, the jury heard the closing arguments from the Crown prosecution and Mr Ali’s lawyer Mr Kelso.

The court also heard the jury saw footage from the cab ride which showed the woman crying, and at one point, leaning on Mr Ali’s shoulder, before he put his arm around her and wiped away her tears.

Crown prosecutor Emily Coley told the court this was unusual behaviour from the cabbie who was clearly a stranger.

It is the Crown’s case that the alleged sexual assault occurred within a seven-minute time period that he was away from the taxi.

Ms Coley addressed the jury first, and told them if they found the alleged victim to be an honest and reliable witness, they should find Mr Ali guilty, as her evidence was enough to convict him of sexual assault.

Ms Coley said when the woman was questioned by Mr Ali’s lawyer about lying to get her ex back she was firm in her answer, which was that if she did want him back, she would not do so by making up a story.

In regards to issues of consent, Ms Coley said the woman clearly did not consent and actively tried to move her head away from the man so he did not kiss her lips.

While on the stand on day one of the trial, the woman told the court she believed she made multiple attempts to indicate she was not interested before verbally saying no, Ms Coley said in her closing submissions.

During Mr Kelso’s closing argument he said the woman clearly had the motive to lie and noted the crown case changed during the proceeding – from just kissing the face, to also including the woman’s neck and chin.

Mr Kelso said Mr Ali never entered the woman’s home, and he left the cab because he had a duty of care to ensure the safety of his passenger, especially on a cold morning.

He also pointed out that in at the end of the police’s body camera footage, the woman asked her ex if he was staying and her facial expression was “the cat who caught the canary”.

Mr Kelso said the woman was not a trusted witness and was too inconsistent with details, such as when or if his client pulled down her bedsheets.

The jury is deliberating on their verdict.