Uber driver found guilty of raping female passenger in Sydney's Kings Cross

By Lucy Carter

An Uber driver has been found guilty by a Sydney court of raping a female passenger, after picking her up at a Kings Cross nightclub in 2015.

Muhammad Naveed, aged 41, was charged with having sexual intercourse with the woman in her early 20s, without her consent, inside his car.

During the trial, Naveed admitted to having intercourse with the woman, but he had claimed it was consensual.

It took the NSW District Court jury less than 3 hours to find him guilty.

Earlier the court had heard that on the night she was raped, the woman had been heavily intoxicated after drinking with friends during the afternoon and evening.

The jury also heard the woman had fallen asleep and then awoke to realise that Naveed was on top of her.

Prosecutors said that during the incident the woman did not have the strength to push Naveed away and that she had tried to say “get off”.

Naveed, who had been on bail throughout the trial, was taken into custody after the verdict was handed down.

He showed little reaction to the decision.

His defence barrister asked the court to continue his bail because his Pakistani passport had been revoked and he had significant debts to get in order.

But Judge Deborah Payne found that Naveed was an unacceptable flight risk because of the outcome and the seriousness of his crime.

“I find it inevitable that a full-time custodial sentence will be imposed,” Judge Payne said in her decision.

Naveed will be sentenced at Parramatta Local Court in early May.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.