Uber driver guilty of raping drunken teenage passenger at Bondi

An Uber driver is behind bars after he was found guilty of raping a drunken teenager in the back of his car.

Onur Dedeoglu, 39, will be sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court in April after a jury on Thursday found him guilty of three charges and he was refused bail.

During the trial before Judge Nicole Noman, Dedeoglu tried to argue that the 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, consented and suggested they have sex after he drove her and two other friends home in August 2018.

However the prosecution successfully asserted the girl was passed out and she woke to Dedeoglu on top of her in the back seat.

The girl drank six drinks at the Star Bar in Sydney’s CBD before catching an Uber back to the eastern suburbs with two male friends about 1.30am.

After dropping off the other passengers, Dedeoglu drove the girl to her house where he found she had passed out in the back seat.

He then drove to a car park at Bondi Beach where he assaulted her.

During his police interview and testimony in court, Dedeoglu claimed that she had insisted they go to his house before they agreed to go to the beach.

He had repeatedly claimed that she invited him into the back seat and they engaged in consensual sexual activity before she changed her mind and walked off, slamming the car door on him.

However he was found guilty of three charges – sexual intercourse without consent and two charges of assault with an act of indecency.

During his closing submissions, prosecutor Stephen Barlow rubbished Dedeoglu’s evidence, telling the jury it was evasive, unconvincing and inconsistent.

“She didn’t know his name,” Mr Barlow said.

“You might think it just completely implausible that (the complainant) would say (she wanted to have sex with him).”