Ex-Grab driver accused of trying to rape drunk passenger

Instead of taking an intoxicated passenger home safely, a former Grab driver allegedly sexually assaulted her and tried to rape her in his car.

The victim was later found lying in the middle of the road by another Grab driver, who called the police.

Tan Yew Sin, 46, is on trial for one charge each of sexual assault by penetration, attempted rape and molest.

The High Court heard yesterday that the 19-year-old woman drank about five glasses of beer while at a bar at Seletar Aerospace Park with her friends on the evening of May 18, 2018.

She cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity.

While she was in the toilet, a friend booked a Grab ride for her.

Tan, who is married with three children, accepted the booking to take the woman back to her condominium in Pasir Ris.

When he arrived, the friend told him that she was drunk and handed him a plastic bag in case she needed to vomit.

Her friends noticed that she appeared tipsy, was crying, and could not walk straight.

In the in-car camera footage that was played in court, her friend could be heard telling her to text him when she got home.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chew Xin Ying told the court that the victim lay down on the back seat of the Kia Carens and started crying.

Tan tried to talk to her and asked if she had gone through a break-up, but she did not reply.

She had fallen asleep when Tan reached her condo in the early hours of May 19. After he woke her up, she got out and tried in vain to open the side gate with her access card.

DPP Chew said Tan observed that she looked "lost and unsteady", and he took her back to the car after she squatted on the ground in tears.

The victim had no recollection of what happened in the car next, the DPP added.

Tan told the police that after getting into the car, she became agitated and banged her head on the window while crying.

Tan went to the rear passenger seat to console her. He also searched her belongings and found out where she lived from her identity card.

DPP Chew told the court: "Instead of assisting the victim to return to her home, Tan put the victim's NRIC back into her handbag and proceeded to perpetrate the sexual offences on her."

Tan began by kissing her before sexually assaulting her with his finger. He also tried to have sex with her but failed.

To avoid being seen, Tan then drove to a more secluded spot and got into the back seat, where he fondled her and tried to sexually assault her again. But she pushed his hands away.

After some time, the victim regained some of her senses, and Tan helped her enter the condo through the side gate. He then drove off.

Instead of going home, the victim went to the toilet near the swimming pool and left her belongings there before walking out of the condo.

Another Grab driver who was ending his shift found her later some distance from the condo and called the police.

DPP Chew said: "She was barely conscious, and her panties and safety shorts were missing. She did not know who had removed them or how, or where they were."

The driver also waited for the ambulance to arrive. A paramedic will testify that the victim was crying and kept struggling when she was trying to examine her, DPP Chew said.

In his statements to the police, Tan admitted that he did not ask for her consent, the DPP added.

But he claimed that the woman had participated in some of the sexual acts and that she had performed a sex act on him.

Tan is likely to argue that he believed she had consented to the sexual acts, but the prosecution maintains that the victim had been too intoxicated to give consent, DPP Chew said.

She added that the victim's erratic behaviour were "clear and obvious signs" that should have raised alarm bells in Tan's mind.

A blood test showed the woman had 26mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, and a consultant from the Institute of Mental Health estimated her blood alcohol content was in the range of 132.2-155.9 mg per 100 ml of blood at about 3am.

Tan's DNA was found on the woman's bra and the semen detected on Tan's underwear was found to contain her DNA.

The trial continues today.