Taxi Driver Online

Belfast taxi driver goes on trial accused of raping passenger

A man accused of raping a woman whilst working as a taxi driver told police the sexual activity was consensual, a jury heard today (Thursday).

As the Crown opened its case against Colin Gray, a jury of nine men and three women were told the alleged incident occurred in east Belfast in the early hours of February 28, 2016.

The 56-year old, from Westland Drive in Newtownards, is standing trial on charges of rape and sexual assault, which he has denied.

At the time of the alleged offences he was 49 and working as a taxi driver for Value Cabs.

Crown barrister Terence Mooney KC said on the date in question the complainant - who was 19 at the time - was out socialising with her friend in Belfast. The friends had visited various bars before heading to a nightclub in the Odyssey Complex.

Mr Mooney said the girls became separated and when the nightclub closed the complantant was unable to find her friend as the battery had died in her mobile phone.

She tried unsuccessfully to get a taxi to take her to her east Belfast home and at one point spent a period on the Safezone bus parked outside the Odyssey.

The senior prosecutor told the jury that after she left the bus, she again tried to hail a taxi before finally observing a taxi being driven by Gray.

She approached the silver Skoda and asked Gray if he could take her home. She gave him £20 she got in the front seat. Mr Mooney said that during the course of the journey Gray called another man.

The complainant could hear the conversation as it was on loudspeaker and she heard Gray tell the other man ‘you should see this girl, she’s not wearing much’ which prompted laughter from him.

It’s the Crown’s case that after arriving at her home, Gray said ‘wait a wee minute’ then drove away and into nearby church grounds.

Mr Mooney said he then got out of the car and told her to get into the back seat, which she did. Gray is then accused of sexually assaulting the woman, who told him to stop.

The prosecutor said: “At this stage, the complainant would say she blacked out. Her next memory is that the defendant was behind her and was having sexual intercourse with her.”

She managed to get out of the car and intended to walk home, but Gray told her she’d left her phone and cards in the front seat.

She got back into the front, Gray drove her home and when he asked for her phone number, she gave him two false numbers.

Mr Mooney when she got home, her sister noticed she was “deeply upset ... she was crying”. The complainant said she was going for a bath - but when she told her sister what has just happened, her sister told her not to take a bath and immediately called the police.

Officers arrived a short time later and, noting her distress, she was taken to a specialist centre set up to investigate sexual crimes. Samples were taken and DNA matching Gray’s was present.

A police investigation was launched and CCTV was viewed to try and locate the Value Cabs vehicle. This was established and when Gray’s car was seized and searched, police located blood on the back seat. Also found was a piece of paper with mobile numbers on it.

Gray was arrested and during his interview, he claimed that any sexual activity was both consensual and instigated by the complainant.

He claimed she kissed him outside her house and suggested going somewhere else - and it was she who told him to get into the back seat where she straddled him.

Gray also alleged to police that whilst consensual sexual activity did take place, she wanted to have intercourse - but he refused as he didn’t have a condom.

Mr Mooney told the jury: “We suggest that the demeanour of the complainant in deep distress, as witnessed both by the police and by her sister, show that she had undergone a traumatic and unpleasant event. Her mental and physical states are inconsistent with consensual sexual activity.

“Her immediate complaint to her sister and to the police all speak to the affect that rather than a consensual tryst with the defendant, he assaulted her against her will.”

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IDFIMH

Got a number of questions.

Which hopefully will be answered during and after the trial.

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IDFIMH

Six days since the first article, but can't see anything else online.


Taxi driver accused of raping passenger gives evidence at trial

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belf ... r-27752722

Colin Gray made the case the sexual activity in the taxi was both instigated by her and consensual

A 56-year old former taxi driver accused of raping and sexually assaulting a female passenger gave evidence at his trial on Wednesday.

Colin Gray was called to the witness box at Belfast Crown Court and after swearing on the Bible to tell the truth, he was asked about what happened in the car park of a church in east Belfast in the early hours of February 28, 2016.

At the time of the alleged offences he was 49 and working as a taxi driver for Value Cabs. It's the Crown's case that after picking a 19-year old woman up from outside the Odyssey, Gray then drove her to car park close to her home where he raped and sexually assaulted her in the back seat of his silver Skoda.

Gray, from Westland Drive in Newtownards, has denied her claims and has made the case the sexual activity in the taxi was both instigated by her and consensual.

The trial is now in its second week and earlier today Gray's barrister Eilis McDermott KC called him to the witness stand to give evidence on his own behalf. He confirmed that in February 2016 he worked for Value Cabs and that he picked the complainant up and was given £20 by her to take her home.

When asked by Ms McDermott if there was any conversation on the journey, Gray said: "She started off by saying she was angry about her friend because she cleared off with a fella and she wasn't too happy about it. She wasn't too happy she'd been left on her own.

"I said to her don't worry, I'll get you back home to your Mum and Dad's."

Gray was then asked about a telephone call he had on the journey with another Value Cabs driver. When Ms McDermott asked him if he told the male caller he had a girl in his taxi who was wearing a "tiny dress" or "shorts" he said "no."

He also denied telling the other taxi driver his passenger was "a lovely looking girl ... you should see her". Instead, he said it was a "quite quick" chat about the other driver's last job and how he was "lucky" to be "knocking off."

Ms McDermott then questioned Gray about what happened when they reached her home. He replied: "I just arrived at the door and she opened the (car) door and I said goodnight and then just at that she leaned in and kissed me on the lips."

When he was asked by his barrister "what happened after that?", he said: "The next thing she was leaning over again and started kissing and this was longer.

"I turned round and said 'here you are outside your house' and at that she closed the door and said 'let's go somewhere.'

After being asked how he responded to this, Grey answered "I said 'go somewhere?' and she nodded and I said 'right okay.'"

Gray said he then drove a short distance to a church car park, and when asked what happened after he parked his car, he said: "When we arrived we started kissing again and the kiss went on for a few minutes then she looked in the back and said 'the back.'

"She got out her door and I got out mine and we both got into the back seat."

Gray claimed that once in the back seat, she "straddled across" him and instigated sexual activity. The jury has already heard the complainant's version of what happened in the back seat and when she gave evidence last week, she told the jury she was sexually assaulted by Gray.

She said she told him to stop, which he refused to do, and that she then blanked out - and her next memory was Gray behind her having sexual intercourse with her.

Gray confirmed he had heard her evidence and denied her claim that when they got to the car park she asked him to take her home. Ms McDermott then said "you have heard her say that when you were in the back of her car that she blanked out."

Gray replied "I heard that but there was no blanking out. She definitely didn't blank out."

The barrister continued: "You have heard her say that when she came round from having blanked out, that her lower clothing has been removed."

Gray denied removing her clothes, denied being behind her and denied having sex with her. He told the court and jury he refused her request for sex as they didn't have any contraceptives and he voiced concerns about STDs.

Gray claimed that after the consensual sexual activity, he took her home.

At hearing

Wasn't expecting this, although he's not totally in the clear yet, because the jury couldn't reach a verdict on the sexual assault charge, so presumably he can be retried for that. Most of the article is rehash, so I've left that out of the stuff below, but if anyone wants to read the whole article then the link is there.


Former Belfast taxi driver acquitted of raping passenger

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/form ... d-27770977

The jury of nine men and three woman failed to reach a verdict on a second charge of sexual assault

A former taxi driver was today acquitted by a jury of raping a female passenger

Following a two-week trial held at Belfast Crown Court, the jury deliberated for around four hours before returning a "not guilty" verdict against Colin Gray.

The jury of nine men and three woman failed to reach a verdict on a second charge of sexual assault.

[...]

Following an day of deliberations, the forewoman of the jury was asked if they had reached a verdict on the rape charge upon which at least ten of them agreed. She said they had - then she delivered the 'not guilty' verdict.

Regarding the sexual assault charge, the jury failed to reach a verdict.

Judge Donna McColgan KC then thanked the 12 members of the jury for their service and discharged them. She then addressed the prosecuting barrister and said the Crown had until next Wednesday to make a decision regarding the sexual assault charge.

Never an easy charge to gain a conviction without witnesses, or, as it seems in this case, any forensic evidence.

Interesting to note this is yet another case of an allegation against a man significantly older than the alleged victim.

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IDFIMH

I suspect she did something she later regretted and he maybe took advantage of a vulnerable girl so perhaps the result was inevitable anyway he's no longer in the trade

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I suspect she did do something she regretted, she got in his motor.

Not convinced she did anything else wrong.

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IDFIMH