Teenager came out as gay and was sexually assaulted the same day, jury toldA TEENAGER who came out as gay was immediately sexually assaulted by a taxi driver, a jury heard.
The 17-year-old lad said he made the announcement to his family and had to leave home.
Bristol Crown Court was told that a taxi driver who then drove him to emergency accommodation took him to a house in St Werburghs and carried out a sex act on him.
David Whitrow, 62, of Church Road in Redfield, denies causing a person to engage in sexual activity without their consent in October last year.
The complainant, speaking via a video link, told the court he knew he was gay from the age of 11 or 12.
He said in October last year he came out to his family and friends but, following trouble with his brothers, found himself homeless.
He said: "I tried to go to the homeless office near Asda in Whitchurch.
"That was shut. The security at Asda phoned social services and they found me a place in Bristol Foyer.
"I was given an address to go to and somebody called a taxi for me."
The lad said the taxi driver then collected him.
He told the court: "He said: 'You look like you've had a rough day'.
"I told him I had just come out to my family.
"He started to give me a sexual look. It started to freak me out.
"He didn't say to me that he was gay at first. He just gave me a really weird sexual look."
The complainant said that, on the taxi journey to the Bristol Foyer, the driver disclosed to him that he was gay.
The driver started to put his hand on the lad's leg, the jury heard.
After stopping at Tesco in Victoria Street, the taxi then went to a house in St Werburghs and the driver went inside.
The lad told the court: "Five minutes after I got out of the car.
"He had been fondling me in the car. I didn't want anything to do with him.
"I had nowhere to go, I just wanted to go to the hostel. I had no one to run to and I had no money."
He said he went to the house to try and hurry up the driver and though he had not wanted to go inside he ended up in the lounge.
The lad said: "He started kissing me. I said: 'Get your hands off me' and then he did what he did'.
"He started to undo my belt and my body just froze. I couldn't move, I just went numb. I just closed my eyes, I didn't take any notice of what he was doing. I wanted it over and done with, I was petrified for my life."
The complaint then described how the taxi driver committed a sexual assault on him, and got the lad to touch him intimately.
After the incident they returned to the taxi and drove to some shops, the lad said.
The teenager told the jury: "He came out with cigarettes and a can of Red Bull.
"He offered me money to bribe me, not to help me.
"He gave me a card and said: 'Ring me tomorrow, I'll take you out for a meal'.
"He said: 'If you tell anyone it's my word against yours.'"
The court heard the taxi then went to the Bristol Foyer and the lad got a bed.
He reported the incident to staff the next day.
Philip Warren, prosecuting, asked the lad: "Did you fancy him?" (the taxi driver)
The lad replied: "I didn't fancy him. He was old enough to be my granddad."
The case continues.
Read more:
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Teenager-c ... z3akjSwmwt Taxi driver tells jury sex session with passenger who had just come out as gay was consensualTAXI driver David Whitrow told a jury he picked up a 17-year-old lad who had come out as gay that day and had consensual sex with him.
Whitrow told Bristol Crown Court he collected the lad from Asda in Whitchurch with the view to taking him to the Bristol Foyer in Victoria Street.
But the 62-year-old self-employed cabbie said when the lad asked if they could go somewhere quiet, he took him to a house and committed a sex act on him.
Whitrow, of Church Road in Redfield, denies causing a person to engage in sexual activity without their consent in October last year.
It is claimed he sexually assaulted the youth, who froze at the time and feared for his life.
The driver conceded that, as they drove, he may have brushed the lad's leg six or seven times when he changed gear.
Whitrow told the jury: "He said 'can we pull up and have a chat?' so I said 'yeah'.
"I did a U-turn so I was outside of the Shakespeare pub.
"We were talking about the downside of being gay. He appeared to be listening intently."
Whitrow denied touching the complainant in the taxi and said he didn't get the youth to touch him.
He said that after the lad asked him twice if they could go somewhere quieter they agreed to go back to Whitrow's house in St Werbughs.
The court heard they arrived at the house, locked the taxi and went in.
Whitrow said: "As soon as he came in he started kissing me and fondling me.
"That was in the passageway.
"He kissed me on the lips."
The court heard how they went into the front room, sat on the sofa and Whitrow carried out a sex act on the youth.
"He didn't resist, not at all," Whitrow said. "He didn't try to pull away and he didn't tell me to stop.
"After four or five minutes he said he had to get back to his bed and breakfast place.
"I said 'OK' and I stopped. He became a bit agitated and I said 'OK, I'll take you back'.
Whitrow recounted how, on the way, he stopped at a shop and bought the lad cigarettes, a can of red Bull.
He said he dropped the lad at Bristol Foyer and gave him £20 as well as a card with his name and telephone number, should the lad wish to call him.
The complainant told the court the cabbie gave him a "weird sexual look" before taking him to the house and molesting him.
He told the court: "My body just froze. I couldn't move, I just went numb. I just closed my eyes, I didn't take any notice of what he was doing. I wanted it over and done with, I was petrified for my life."
The case continues.
Read more:
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Taxi-drive ... z3akiorTT1
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