Fake Uber receipt at centre of high-profile rape trial shown to jury
A high-profile man accused of raping a woman twice inside a Melbourne home doctored an Uber receipt in an “attempt to avoid accountability”, a court has heard.
The jury in the trial of a high-profile man accused of rape has been shown a doctored Uber receipt he is alleged to have used in a “deceptive” cover-up.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is standing trial in the County Court, accused of raping a woman twice inside a Melbourne home in January last year.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape, claiming that the complainant “got it wrong”.
The two-week trial entered its third day on Wednesday, with the jury hearing from the complainant in closed court, followed by the accused’s mate, Mr B*.
Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams previously told the court the complainant attended the accused’s home late on a summer night after she was invited over by the accused’s girlfriend.
A boozy gathering had been hosted at the home that day, but only the accused, his girlfriend and Mr B remained when the complainant arrived at 12.23am.
Mr McWilliams said the complainant, who was in a “casual sexual relationship” with Mr B, had consensual sex with him in an upstairs bedroom.
At 1.58am, Mr B left in an Uber, arriving at his home at 2.09am.
After his departure, it is alleged that the accused slid into bed with the complainant and pretended to be Mr B as he digitally penetrated her twice.
Mr McWilliams alleged that the rapes were committed “through deception” before the accused “attempted to avoid accountability, with even more deception”.
But on Monday, his defence barrister David Hallowes SC stated that one of the “key issues” would be whether or not Mr B returned to the bedroom before catching the Uber.
In the witness box on Wednesday, Mr B testified that after having consensual sex with the complainant, he left the bedroom to move his car from the driveway to the street.
He told the court he caught the Uber after he moved his car and did not recall returning to the bedroom.
He also agreed with Mr McWilliams that the last time he saw the complainant that night was when he left the bedroom to move his car.
Messages between Mr B and the complainant, exchanged after the alleged rapes, were then beamed onto the courtroom screen.
“Are you still here or did you head home,” she messaged him at 2.15am.
“I’m at home,” he replied.
Mr McWilliams then moved onto the Uber receipt the accused allegedly doctored to suggest that Mr B was at the home for longer than he was.
Mr B, who had sent a screenshot of the real receipt to the accused, confirmed that a doctored receipt was sent back to him by the accused on Snapchat.
“He had sent me an Uber receipt to send to (his girlfriend) showing I left at a later time than I did,” Mr B said.
He added that the accused told him that “something had happened” between his girlfriend and the complainant that warranted him showing her the receipt.
Both the real and doctored receipts were shown to the jury, with the departure time changing from 1.58am to 2.37am and the arrival time changing from 2.09am to 2.57am.
When asked whether the doctored receipt was false, Mr B replied: “Correct.”
Mr Hallowes previously argued that his client may have panicked when he was wrongly accused of rape, leading him to fabricate the Uber receipt.
Mr B will return to the witness box on Thursday.
The trial, before Judge Gregory Lyon, continues.
*Not his real name
Originally published as Fake Uber receipt at centre of high-profile rape trial shown to jury
