Post by acnedriver on Apr 28, 2023 5:41:50 GMT
A taxi driver accused of attempting to rape a 17-year-old girl told a jury that he believed the sexual activity that occurred was consensual.
Mahdi Ferhane was in the witness box giving evidence at his Bournemouth Crown Court trial on Thursday, April 27.
Prosecutors allege he attempted to rape the teenager, who he had picked up in his job as a taxi driver in Bournemouth town centre in the early hours of May 29 last year.
After pulling up alongside the complainant in Old Christchurch Road, they engaged in a short conversation before she got into the front passenger seat.
The prosecution case is that the defendant drove to a clifftop car park despite the girl asking to be taken home.
It is alleged that Ferhane made the girl drive the Volkswagen Touran in the car park before he went back behind the wheel and travelled to a flat he had keys for as the landlord in St Peter’s Road.
Once inside the property, Ferhane is alleged to have given the complainant a massage before removing her dress and his clothing and attempting to rape her.
The defendant told the court when he first came into contact with the girl, she said she was not ready to go home.
Ferhane, who is licensed with New Forest District Council as a private hire driver, said after getting in the vehicle the complainant said she “wanted to party” and she asked if she could drive the car, which he eventually agreed to do.
The accused said the complainant said “she did not mind coming and chilling” with him for a bit, so he drove to the address in St Peter’s Road.
Asked why he went to the flat, the defendant said: “Because I had nowhere else to go with her.”
Ferhane told the jury the complainant was on a call with a friend before going into the property, with him refuting her account in which she said her phone was dead and she went into the flat to charge it.
The defendant said after they both had a fizzy drink and spoke in the flat, he offered to give her a massage when they were both sat on a mattress and she said she had a “really annoying shoulder”.
Ferhane told the court the girl tried to unzip her dress and he helped her to unzip it after asking her.
The defendant said she was making “enjoyment sounds” and he proceeded to take off his clothes and do a body-to-body massage.
He told the jury that he went on to get an erection and ejaculated on the complainant’s leg and the mattress. Ferhane said he did not try to have sex.
Asked by defence barrister Stephen Leslie KC if he attempted to rape the girl, the defendant said “no”.
He gave the same response when asked if he believed he touched her without her consent.
The defendant admitted that he lied about what he could remember about the events of the early hours on May 29 when he was first interviewed by police.
The married father-of-two said he did this because he was “scared”, “shocked” and “embarrassed”.
In his second interview, Ferhane said he did not give a true account in the first interview because “I am a married man and I did something really bad”.
When asked what he did that was “really bad”, he said: “I cheated on my wife.”
He did not say about driving to the clifftop car park and letting the complainant drive the car in either interview.
The defendant told the court it was “silly” to let her drive the car and he did not tell officers because he did not want the girl to be “punished”.
Ferhane, of Richmond Park Avenue, Bournemouth, denies attempted rape and an alternative charge of sexual assault.
www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23486356.taxi-driver-accused-bournemouth-attempted-rape-gives-evidence/
Mahdi Ferhane was in the witness box giving evidence at his Bournemouth Crown Court trial on Thursday, April 27.
Prosecutors allege he attempted to rape the teenager, who he had picked up in his job as a taxi driver in Bournemouth town centre in the early hours of May 29 last year.
After pulling up alongside the complainant in Old Christchurch Road, they engaged in a short conversation before she got into the front passenger seat.
The prosecution case is that the defendant drove to a clifftop car park despite the girl asking to be taken home.
It is alleged that Ferhane made the girl drive the Volkswagen Touran in the car park before he went back behind the wheel and travelled to a flat he had keys for as the landlord in St Peter’s Road.
Once inside the property, Ferhane is alleged to have given the complainant a massage before removing her dress and his clothing and attempting to rape her.
The defendant told the court when he first came into contact with the girl, she said she was not ready to go home.
Ferhane, who is licensed with New Forest District Council as a private hire driver, said after getting in the vehicle the complainant said she “wanted to party” and she asked if she could drive the car, which he eventually agreed to do.
The accused said the complainant said “she did not mind coming and chilling” with him for a bit, so he drove to the address in St Peter’s Road.
Asked why he went to the flat, the defendant said: “Because I had nowhere else to go with her.”
Ferhane told the jury the complainant was on a call with a friend before going into the property, with him refuting her account in which she said her phone was dead and she went into the flat to charge it.
The defendant said after they both had a fizzy drink and spoke in the flat, he offered to give her a massage when they were both sat on a mattress and she said she had a “really annoying shoulder”.
Ferhane told the court the girl tried to unzip her dress and he helped her to unzip it after asking her.
The defendant said she was making “enjoyment sounds” and he proceeded to take off his clothes and do a body-to-body massage.
He told the jury that he went on to get an erection and ejaculated on the complainant’s leg and the mattress. Ferhane said he did not try to have sex.
Asked by defence barrister Stephen Leslie KC if he attempted to rape the girl, the defendant said “no”.
He gave the same response when asked if he believed he touched her without her consent.
The defendant admitted that he lied about what he could remember about the events of the early hours on May 29 when he was first interviewed by police.
The married father-of-two said he did this because he was “scared”, “shocked” and “embarrassed”.
In his second interview, Ferhane said he did not give a true account in the first interview because “I am a married man and I did something really bad”.
When asked what he did that was “really bad”, he said: “I cheated on my wife.”
He did not say about driving to the clifftop car park and letting the complainant drive the car in either interview.
The defendant told the court it was “silly” to let her drive the car and he did not tell officers because he did not want the girl to be “punished”.
Ferhane, of Richmond Park Avenue, Bournemouth, denies attempted rape and an alternative charge of sexual assault.
www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23486356.taxi-driver-accused-bournemouth-attempted-rape-gives-evidence/