The South Australian Supreme Court has dismissed Pakistani taxi driver Nasar Yamin Usmani's appeal against assault convictions for “kissing and hugging” three of his female passengers.
A Magistrate Court had earlier found the 52-year-old cab driver guilty of assaulting his passengers while working in Adelaide.
In one of the incidents, a 32-year-old woman had boarded Mr Usmani’s taxi outside a hotel on June 7, 2015. She started to feel uneasy when he told her she was beautiful. On the way, Mr Usmani stopped the cab twice before dropping her home and went to the extent of kissing her on the mouth while she was providing her credit card.
In another incident, Mr Usmani touched the face of a 24-year-old female passenger and commented on the shade of her lipstick. When the cab stopped in traffic, he asked her for a hug before attempting to kiss her.
On the third occasion involving a 28-year-old woman passenger, Mr Usmani began by telling her she was beautiful. He then went ahead and touched her leg and moved on to stroke her hair. He also pulled her arm to get a closer look at her tattoos and later asked her for a hug.
In his appeal before the Supreme Court, Mr Usmani contended that all three passengers had consented to his physical advances and that his actions were within the limits of normal social interaction.
His appeal was however, rejected by Justice Parker who said the Magistrate had rightly found that "there was no proper basis for him to assume that if a passenger laughed at his jokes or spoke to him there was a likelihood that kissing and hugging would be welcomed".
Justice Parker further stated that Mr Usmani’s behaviour went well beyond “conduct that lies within the limits of what would be generally accepted within the community as a normal incident of social interaction or community life”.
The former civil engineer had migrated to Australia with his family from Pakistan in 2012. Unable to find work as a civil engineer in Australia, Mr Usmani began working at service stations and as a taxi driver.
