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Former Grab driver on trial for trying to rape, sexually assault drunk 19-year-old passenger

SINGAPORE — A 46-year-old former Grab driver is on trial in the High Court for molesting, sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a drunk female passenger in his car in 2018.

Former Grab driver Tan Yew Sin leaving the High Court on Sept 29, 2020.

Former Grab driver Tan Yew Sin leaving the High Court on Sept 29, 2020.

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  • Tan Yew Sin picked the passenger up from a bar in May 2018
  • He will likely argue that he “believed in good faith” she had consented to the sex acts, prosecutors said
  • They argued, however, there were clear signs she did not consent

 

SINGAPORE — A 46-year-old former Grab driver is on trial in the High Court for molesting, sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a drunk female passenger in his car in 2018.

Tan Yew Sin, then a private-hire car driver with Grab, had picked her up from a bar in the early hours of May 19, 2018.

Her friend had told Tan that she was drunk. 

Tan is accused of trying to rape the girl, then 19 years old, before driving to a more secluded location where he assaulted her.

She cannot be named because of a court order to protect her identity.

In their opening statement on Tuesday (Sept 29), prosecutors said Tan would likely argue that he “believed in good faith” that she had consented to the sexual acts.

Yet there were “clear and obvious signs that she was so intoxicated that he must have known that she could not consent to any sexual activity with him”, they said.

These signs included her friend telling Tan she was drunk, and the girl walking unsteadily and becoming agitated when he helped her to his car.

Tan, who is no longer a Grab driver, is represented by Mr Chenthil Kumarasingam and Ms Adeline Goh of law firm Withers KhattarWong.

SHE FELL ASLEEP

That morning, Tan had accepted a booking from the teenager to travel from Wild Seed Bar at the Seletar Aerospace Park to her condominium.

She met her friends at the bar, where she drank about five glasses of beer throughout the evening.

When Tan got there, her friend told him that she was drunk and passed her a plastic bag in case she needed to vomit in the car. She lay down in the rear passenger seat.

She could be heard crying during the car ride in the in-car camera footage, which was played in court.

Prosecutors said that Tan tried to talk to her, but she fell asleep. 

When they reached her home, she tapped her pouch against the card reader at the side gate, but could not get in.

“The accused observed that she looked lost and unsteady. She ended up squatting on the ground and began crying,” the prosecutors said. 

“Upon seeing this, he brought her back to his car.”

TAN’S ADMISSIONS 

Based on Tan’s account to police officers, he took the girl back to his car, but she grew agitated and banged her head on the side window while crying.

He tried to console her, but she hit her head on the window again and pounded her chest.

He later began kissing and sexually assaulting her. 

He said that after failing to have sex with her, he drove to a more secluded area so passers-by would not see them.

He molested her at the back seat, but she pushed his hands away.

“After some time, the victim regained some of her senses,” prosecutors said.

Tan later helped her through the side gate of her condominium and drove off. 

Then, she “inexplicably entered the toilet near the (condominium) swimming pool, where she left her belongings”, prosecutors added. 

At 4.45am, a passing Grab driver found her lying in the middle of the road along Jalan Loyang Besar, some distance from the condominium. 

She was barely conscious, and her underwear and safety shorts — which protect women from sexual assault — were missing. 

She did not know who removed them or how they were taken off, or where they were.

Prosecutors said that in his police statements, Tan admitted that he did not ask her for consent and she did not give it. 

He claimed that she had taken part in the sexual acts.

HIS DNA FOUND ON HER BRA

Based on a medical report prepared by psychiatrist Christopher Cheok at the Institute of Mental Health, the alleged victim had an estimated 132.2 to 155.9mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood at that time.

Prosecutors said Dr Cheok would testify that her inability to remember what transpired in Tan’s car “may indicate an alcohol blackout or that she was in deep sleep” from drinking.

An analyst from the Health Sciences Authority will also testify that Tan’s DNA was found inside her bra cup, and his underwear tested positive for his semen and her DNA.

The trial will continue for the rest of the week.

If convicted of attempted rape, Tan could be jailed up to 10 years, and fined or caned.

Related topics

molest sexual assault court crime Grab

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