Driver sexually touched teenager after Uber mistakenly picked him up from Paddington pub
Hammoud kept asking the woman, “Do you like that?” and said, “Spread them” and “Spread your legs.” He stroked her thigh again and asked the same question, to which she replied, “No.”
“Shortly thereafter, the perpetrator tried to put his hand under the victim’s skirt. The victim said “mm, no.” The perpetrator said, “Later?” [and] The victim didn’t respond.”
At one point the victim had said “Mmm mmmm mmmm” and was asked by Hammoud if she was masturbating. He said she was making “sex noises,” to which she replied, “No.”
Hammoud then rubbed the woman’s right thigh a third time.
“In order to avoid the perpetrator, the victim began to pretend to be asleep,” the facts read.
“During this time, the perpetrator continued to drive to the destination. After about 10 minutes, the perpetrator, believing the victim was asleep, told her to wake up and the perpetrator dropped the victim off at the destination.”
The woman immediately lodged a complaint with her friend and her parents and reported the incident to the police. In November, officers stormed Hammoud’s home in Greenacre.
“The perpetrator posed as the driver of the vehicle at the time of the crime,” the statement said.
Hammoud was arrested and taken to Bankstown Police Station, where he spoke to Intellectual Disability Rights Services and a lawyer before participating in a taped interview.
Hammoud was due to face a hearing on Wednesday, but his lawyer, Jessica Tohi, said the matter had been resolved and pleaded guilty to the first count of sexual contact on behalf of her client. Three other identical charges were withdrawn and dismissed.
Tohi advised the court that her client had an intellectual disability and requested that the matter be listed for a Section 14 motion to be dealt with on grounds of mental health or cognitive impairment.
Under the legislation, a judge can dismiss the charges and release the accused either into the custody of a responsible person, for specific treatment, or unconditionally.
Tohi requested an adjournment until October and told Judge Miranda Moody that Hammoud booked a consultation with a forensic psychiatrist in September.
“If it [the application] “If the verdict is unsuccessful, we will proceed with the verdict that day,” she said.
Hammoud remains on bail.
Our breaking news alert will notify you about important breaking news when they happen. Get it here.
